'\ vri /;V,, JP\ j| University of California • Berkeley CHARLES B. TURRILL COLLECTION mm. ^^8?Aa*?^ii^V * ! ^^?iJ.35AiMS^c^si ^A^ft^^'VP.-sA • '^mmMm * * HISTORY OF THE CONQUEST OF PERU * -4 VOL. II. BIR© BIS ILA (&A§ € A, fROM THE PORTHAIT IN THE SACRISTY OF THE SANTA MARIA MAGDALEN^ HISTORY OF THE CONQUEST OF PERU, WITH A PRELIMINARY VIEW CIVILIZATION OF THE INCAS. BY WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT, CORRESPONDING MEMBER OP THE FRENCH INSTITUTE; OP THE ROYAL ACADEMY OP HISTORY AT MADRID. ETC. " Congestse cumulantur opes, orbisque rapinas Accipit." CLAUDIAN, In Ruf., lib. i., v. 194. "So color de religion Van a buscar plata y oro Del encubierto tesoro." LOPE DE VEGA, El Nuevo Mundo, Jorn. I. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOLUME II. NEW YORK: HARPER AND BROTHERS, 82 CLIFF STREET M DCCC XL VIZI. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1847, bj WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT, ia the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. V. 2- CONTENTS VOLUME SECOND BOOK III. CONQUEST OF PERU. — CONTINUED. CHAPTER IX. Pa»a NEW INCA CHOWNED. — MUNICIPAL REGULATIONS. — TERRIBLE MARCH OF ALVARADO. — INTERVIEW WITH PIZARRO. — FOUNDATION OF LIMA. — HERNANDO PIZARRO REACHES SPAIN. — SENSATION AT COURT. — FEUDS OF ALMAGRO AND THE PlZARROS •*.'«•' ' Inca Manco crowned ........ 4 Spanish Government in Cuzco ...... 5 Christian Churches founded 7 Labors of the Missionaries . . . • • v::.w-.v*> -'./*; "H 8 Sharp Encounters with the Natives . . -, , ^:.^f ,'^ti ». 9 Landing of Pedro de Alvarado . . .; <1. • * ' . 10 His March to Quito . . . . . *• ' > „?; * . 11 Terrible Passage of the Puertos Nevados i/s *->;,';*; c -;*s=:': • 12 Sufferings from Cold and Starvation . ;.tv or.,: :i>. . 13 Eruption of Cotopaxi . ....... 14 Alvarado reaches the Table-land . . . . . . 15 Benalcazar's Expedition . ...... :;;>u;, . 16 Almagro's Pursuit . . . -: 17 Agreement between Alvarado and Almagro .... 18 Pizarro at Xauxa ... . . .* ';.;-ov w.;-» ;••;• 20 His Meeting with Alvarado . . . *v * v- V« ;;> . 21 Site for a new Capital . . -,,i * ; * 1 ^r*^-?^!^ 23 Foundation of Lima . . .... . . .24 Almagro goes to Cuzco . . . :^*^^.?-:;U.l^iv-t^b: 25 Hernando Pizarro sent to Spain ...... 26 vi CONTENTS. Page Admitted to an Audience by the Emperor .... 27 Royal Grants to the Conquerors .... .28 Sensation produced by his Accounts 29 Returns with a large Armament 30 His Sufferings at Nombre de Dios 31 Elation of Almagro .32 Difficulty between him and Pizarro . . . . . 33 Reconciliation effected 34 Singular Compact ........ 35 Almagro's Expedition to Chili 36 Pizarro embellishes his Capital . . . . . . 37 His tranquil Occupations ....... 38 CHAPTER X. ESCAPE OF THE INCA. — RETURN OF HERNANDO PIZARRO. T- RlSING OF THE PERUVIANS. SlEGE AND BURNING OF CuZ- co. — DISTRESSES OF THE SPANIARDS. — STORMING OF THE FORTRESS. — PIZARRO'S DISMAY. — THE INCA RAISES THE SIEGE 39 Condition of the conquered Country . . ... 40 Inca Manco ". , ' '„ :.#-.> . 41 Conspiracy of the Peruvians . --. - J v -^'^ •' - «;^^ » 42 Escape and Recapture of the Inca 43 Kindly treated by Hernando Pizarro . . . . . 44 The Inca's final Escape 45 Hotly pursued by Juan Pizarro ...... 46 Defeated on the Yucay 47 Juan Pizarro entangled in the Mountains .^ *-. . . 48 Summoned back to Cuzco 48 The Indians besiege it •; 49 Anxiety of the Spaniards . . . . . . .50 Firing of the City . 51 Terrible Conflagration . . . . . . . .52 Perilous Condition of the Spaniards ^ . . . . . 53 Desperate Combats . . ,^. lr rt . . - . . . 55 Distress of the Besieged . , f^pl *«-' . -L ^vf ^ :• . 55 Their resolute Determination . . . . ; :f . ' ^ . 58 Furious Sally • . * 59 Discipline of the Natives . . . ... . 60 Terrible Slaughter of them k . ti^'r. 61 •*• CONTENTS. vitt Page The Spaniards storm the Citadel 63 Death of Juan Pizarro . . .,;< '. \ ••'•' '. .# . 64 Heroism of an Inca Noble . ; ', - '^ , T V-A »^ . . 65 The Fortress taken 66 Scarcity of Provisions • • • • . .* '• . 67 Reinforcements cut off 68 Consternation of the Spaniards • • -. v^"'.:"-, . . 69 Pizarro seeks Supplies from the North . . ..;.'(.?- 70 The Inca withdraws his Forces • . . . "• .71 Chivalrous Encounters '/;«A"yfl. ^! . ;f :Vi v::W:M«4 . 72 Attempt to seize the Inca •. "VP .£'•'. . -L .\s '1j:.*'jf . . 73 Attack on his Quarters at Tambo "*" -'•: .... 85 Cruelty towards his Indian Allies ^v.:-w:j ? «p :l;..^i U«-;.- .-. •!>:- 86 Overtaken by Rodrigo de Orgonez . . • *p^?x t.f» i!> '• 87 Receives bad Tidings from the South . s?*y>^8B|j$^ L »>,••: 88 Returns by the Desert of Atacama . . . . . .89 Many perish among the Sands . . •-•»*»ii ;A»*«.^.^«;v '.'••.*•.-:' 89 Arrives near Cuzco -.. '"'• ^••^•r*;» -^ .-.;.-:•' /•'•-«-:.-- '•«'<.'i-i.'»v; : .: . 90 Battle with the Inca's Troops ">V ^V* - '"' :" fc. ' ^-v -V ,? -^J-. •' -' 9I Claims Jurisdiction over Cuzco '.. '•* . . . .92 Takes Possession of the Place «• ' vi. ^i ^ »*« vlf^fli 93 riii CONTENTS. Page Captures Hernando and Gonzalo Pizarro . • • .94 Orgoiiez advises their Death ...... 95 Marches against Alonso de Alvarado 95 Battle of Abancay i«v;r..i« 96 Almago defeats and takes him Prisoner 97 Returns to Cuzco 97 Pizarro greatly alarmed . « • • • «• • '•• •' • • 98 Sends Espinosa to negotiate 99 Death of his Emissary 100 Critical Situation of the Brothers Pizarro • • • • 102 Almagro leaves Cuzco for the Coast 103 Stormy Conference with Francis Pizarro .... 104 Bitter Feelings of Almagro 105 Politic Concessions of Pizarro 106 Treaty concluded between them • • • • . .106 Hernando set at Liberty • . 107 CHAPTER II. FIRST CIVIL WAR. — ALMAGRO RETREATS TO Cuzco. — BATTLE OF LAS SALINAS. — CRUELTY OF THE CONQUERORS. — TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF ALMAGRO. — His CHARACTER . 108 Pizarro prepares for War . • . . . . . 108 Perfidiously breaks the Treaty . . • . • • -109 Ahnagro disabled by Illness >. . . . . s8p 110 He retreats to Cuzco . . . . . . ... 1 10 Orgoiiez takes Command of the Forces . . . . Ill Hernando Pizarro marches against him . . . . • 112 Composition of the Army 113 His Order of Battle . . * 114 Attacks Orgonez 115 Bloody Battle of Las Salinas 116 Heroism and Death of Orgonez 117 Rout of the Army 118 Almagro taken Prisoner . . ., 119 Assassination of Pedro de Lerma . . .... . 120 Hernando occupies Cuzco . . . 'V. j, . . -i.In.v- 121 Illness and Distress of Almagro • . . • .. s* '•*. * *& . 122 He is brought to Trial 123 Sentenced to Death , . |g4 Earnestly sues for Life . . . . . . .' 125 CONTENTS. k Page Appoints his Son his Successor • jfr • - • •• d**'- ••' • 126 Is strangled in Prison • • « :^|^V. '"«•". s' «, 7, >» . 127 His Character • • • .- . VJ+; ->« -:,i't . . 128 His free and liberal Temper ^'•i^- • » •*' ;•;.*>;•];'>. *i 129 Unfortunate Connection with Pizarro 130 CHAPTER III. PIZARRO REVISITS Cuzco. — HERNANDO RETURNS TO CASTILE. — His LONG IMPRISONMENT. — COMMISSIONER SENT TO PERU. — HOSTILITIES WITH THE INCA. — PIZARRO'S ACTIVE ADMINISTRATION. — GONZALO PIZARRO . .';.•:,. . 132 Pizarro marches towards Cuzco . . .'- -4* -V i 132 Learns Almagro's Death . . . . . . .133 His own Agency in it ....... 134 His arrogant Conduct V v ' .. . 135 Gross Partiality to his Family . . . ^7:1;,,^ '- .•; 136 Hernando returns with much Gold to Spain . . . .137 His Warning to his Brother 138 Coldly received at Court . . . . . . .139 Is thrown into Prison 140 Detained there for many Years . . . . . .141 His Character 142 Disorderly State of Peru . . . . . . .143 Commissioner sent out by the Crown . . J%>. . . 144 Vaca de Castro arrives in Peru . . . . . . 145 War with the Inca Manco ....... 146 Cruelty of Pizarro to one of his Wives . . . . . 147 Pizarro establishes Settlements in Peru . . . . 148 His Journey to Lima : . ' . 149 His efficient Administration 150 Gonzalo Pizarro sent to Quito . . ..^s'i ':l » . .151 Character of that Chief . . . :.• /I,^ - . 152 CHAPTER IV. GONZALO PIZARRO'S EXPEDITION. — PASSAGE ACROSS THE MOUN- TAINS. — DISCOVERS THE NAPO. — INCREDIBLE SUFFERINGS. — ORELLANA SAILS DOWN THE AMAZON. — DESPAIR OF THE SPANIARDS. — THE SURVIVORS RETURN TO QUITO . . 153 Expedition to the Land of Cinnamon , . . ,5*^. «.'. 153 VOL. II. B CONTENTS. Page Gonzalo leads it . . 154 Tempestuous Weather on the March . . . . 155 Forests of enormous Growth ... . . . 156 Miseries and Sufferings of the Spaniards . . . . 157 They arrive on the Borders of the Napo .... 1,58 Stupendous Cataract 158 Perilous Passage of the River 159 They construct a Brigantine 160 Orellana takes Command of it 161 They reach the Banks of the Amazon .... 162 Orellana's wonderful Voyage ...... 164 His subsequent Fate 165 Dismal Situation of the Spaniards . . . . .166 Courageous Spirit of Gonzalo 167 Their Return through the Wilderness 168 Frightful Mortality 169 Survivors refinter Quito . . . . . . .170 CHAPTER V. THE ALMAGRO FACTION. — THEIR DESPERATE CONDITION. — CONSPIRACY AGAINST FRANCISCO PIZARRO. — ASSASSINATION OF PIZARRO. — ACTS OF THE CONSPIRATORS. — PIZARRO'S CHARACTER ......... 171 Pizarro's Policy towards the Men of Chili + -*'* . - . . , .. 172 Their destitute Condition '. . . »'.>*.• • • 173 Pizarro's contemptuous Treatment of them * . v . . 174 Their Disaffection . . . . . . . .175 Conspiracy against Pizarro . . . . . . 176 Betrayed to him . . . . . "". *^BU . '. 178 His strange Insensibility . . . . . . . 179 Assaulted in his Palace . . . . . . 180 Is deserted by his Friends . . .>*'*.:; . . 181 His Coolness and Intrepidity ...... 182 His desperate Defence 183 His Death 184 Proceedings of the Conspirators . . . ; •' '* - «- 185 Fate of Pizarro's Remains * . 186 His Family . .^V<. 188 His Personal Appearance . . . . „ . 189 His Liberality . . . . . . v .••.:.? r '-* ;v '.'• 190 CONTENTS. xi Page His Want of Education . . . . . . 191 His Courage and Constancy 192 His inflexible Spirit . . . . '.,/v-l »-v '•:•'• '. . 194 Compared with Cortes . . . . . . 195 His Treatment of the Indians . . . \ . . . 197 Want of Religion ..... V.<" f »i -.•'•$ 198 His Avarice and Ambition . . . -, .;.* :. •: -••. X "*"*•*. -* . 199 Extenuating Circumstances . . . :•'.•: -X"'^ •:' . 200 CHAPTER VI MOVEMENTS OF THE CONSPIRATORS. — ADVANCE OF VACA DE CASTRO. — PROCEEDINGS OF ALMAGRO. — PROGRESS OF THE GOVERNOR. — THE FORCES APPROACH EACH OTHER. — BLOODY PLAINS OF CHUPAS. — CONDUCT OF VACA DE CASTRO . 201 Arrival of Vaca de Castro 202 Difficulties of his Situation . »|v.i / ' 203 He assumes the Government ...... 204 Almagro strengthens himself at Lima . •-i^'> 'J;:T y . 205 Massacre of Bishop Valverde . ; *'- .•' •?.\.-'-'-*'5:" 206 His fanatical Character 207 Irresolution of Almagro ....... 208 Death of Juan de Rada 209 Almagro occupies Cuzco 210 Puts to Death Garcia de Alvarado . . .' . .211 His energetic Operations . . . . ^V,1:. . 212 He vainly attempts to negotiate . . . .' . .213 His Address to his Troops . ... . . .214 Amount of his Forces . . . . . . . .215 Marches against Vaca de Castro , •*>•*:< . . .>•;._:.• 216 Progress of the Governor ' ;..": . 217 His politic Management . v?^''* vL*#V' *}'•?*, i». 7: . 218 Reaches Lima . .. . . .' * & %i&ii% sx': -:--3- n-- -. 219 Musters his Army at Xauxa . i ".. *v!.M <^!'f (riot t.-. 220 Declines the Aid of Gonzalo Pizarro . . ^yy^^vi*-/,.; . 221 Negotiates with Almagro .,>^j?s>' •/•,•.'?;..'.' ; *•.:-•''.: i- ..Ti- 222 His Terms rejected . , . ^»; .,0 «>; --<, V *':. >,.*• < T '.'- • 223- Occupies the Plains of Chupas . •: ~ .>fy.r*l 'lo si N'JL' Mti ;> — »- 224 Advance of Almagro . .. '.'.T :'-.:'. . . '. s^ .ty;1-.;.- r " 224 The Governor forms in Order of Battle .... 225 Addresses the Soldiers 226 i CONTENTS. Pago Dispositions of Almagro . . . • • 227 Francisco de Carbajal 228 He leads the Royal Army 229 Bloody Conflict .- 'fc '-,,. .'. ; . 230 Bravery of Carbajal £t ••-£ 231 Night overtakes the Combatants . . . . W. . 232 Almagro's Army give way . . . . . 233 His heroic Efforts . . . ^^-* --'; • . 234 He is made Prisoner 235 Number of the Slain ...... .237 Execution of Almagro . . . J . . 238 His Character .... i ;* <* . . . . 239 Gonzalo Pizarro at Cuzco ...... . 240 Laws for the Government of the Colonies . . . .241 Wise Conduct of Vaca de Castro . . . . . 242 CHAPTER VII. ABUSES BY THE CONQUERORS. — CODE FOR THE COLONIES. — GREAT EXCITEMENT IN PERU. — BLASCO NUNEZ THE VICE- ROY.— His SEVERE POLICY. — OPPOSED BY GONZALO PI- ZARRO 244 Forlorn Condition of the Natives . .„;.'*. . 246 Brutal Conduct of the Conquerors ..... 247 Their riotous Waste . . . . < . , . 248 Remonstrances of Government 250 Humane Efforts of Las Casas ...... 253 Royal Ordinances ........ 254 Viceroy and Audience for Peru ...... 255 Great Commotion in the Colonies ...... 256 Anxiety of Vaca de Castro 257 Colonists apply to Gonzalo Pizarro . . .£&•• •*&• • • 258 Blasco Nunez Vela, the Viceroy . jp . . -V- 259 He arrives, in the New World . » * * -i • • 26° His high-handed Measures sTvJ.'i * •: . . . . 261 The Country thrown into Consternation . #: ' -«. . 262 Gonzalo Pizarro repairs to Cuzco . . ^y:-- .i.-v " •/ 264 Assumes the Title of Procurator . . .•";••>. •_ ,itf$ .v&«w.;« •• 265 His ambitious Views 266 - . CONTENTS. xiii CHAPTER VIII. V*** THE VICEROY ARRIVES AT LIMA. — GONZALO PIZARRO MARCHES FROM Cuzco. — DEATH OF THE INCA MANCO. — RASH CON- DUCT OF THE VICEROY. — SEIZED AND DEPOSED BY THE AU- DIENCE.— GONZALO PROCLAIMED GOVERNOR OF PERU . 267 Blasco Nunez, the Viceroy, enters Lima . '"/»'.) U% . 268 His impolitic Behaviour i*- • ,;* £69 Discontent of the Colonists . , t^u^o,) 4 . 269 Gonzalo Pizarro assembles an Army ...... 270 Marches from Cuzco . ... . « '•'* tri < < , 271 Death of the Inca Manco . . it *--: . . . 272 Hesitation of Gonzalo Pizarro . ^ fr-^.^-v^^ni)-^ . 273 Reassured by popular Favor . . . i>;- > ~. . 274 Suspicious Temper of the Viceroy . . -•.;.•>. ;»•/!' «*.; -^ -. 275 He confines Vaca de Castro . « ... sviiV/'! njn "lu.y." . 275 He prepares for War -)%* . . . . S/ i*-- 276 Audience arrive at Lima . « »^* ..... 277 Disapprove the Viceroy's Proceedings . ^l-^.^-l . 278 Murder of Suarez de Carbajal ...... 279 Rash Design of the Viceroy 280 Thwarted by the Audience . . . ; ' . . ..281 Made Prisoner in his Palace . . . W' - . . 283 Sent back to Spain 283 Gonzalo Pizarro claims the Government . . . . 284 Cruelties of Carbajal . . . . . . . 285 Audience grant Pizarro's Demands -4 286 His triumphant Entry into Lima . . . * '-•-irri!;* . 287 Proclaimed Governor . .''••.-;•»« ; ' »• ',;St-x4f» QQQ Rejoicings of the People 288 CHAPTER IX. MEASURES OF GONZALO PIZARRO. — ESCAPE OF VACA DE CAS- TRO. — REAPPEARANCE OF THE VICEROY. — His DISASTROUS RETREAT. — DEFEAT AND DEATH OF THE VICEROY. — GON- ZALO PIZARRO LORD OF PERU 289 Gonzalo Pizarro establishes his Authority . . ... 290 Vaca de Castro escapes to Spain 291 Is there thrown into Confinement • . 292 xiv CONTENTS. Page The Viceroy Blasco Nunez set on Shore . . . .293 Musters a Force at San Miguel . . . . . . 294 Gonzalo marches against him ..... - . 295 Surprises him by Night ...... s . 296 Pursues him across the Mountains ..... 297 Terrible Sufferings of the Armies ..... 298 Disaffection among the Viceroy's Followers .... 299 He puts several Cavaliers to Death ..... 300 Enters Quito . . . . . . . . . .301 Driven onward to Popayan . . ••'%%• • • ^02 Reinforced by Benalcazar . . . V . . .303 Stratagem of Pizarro . . ...... 304 Blasco Nunez approaches Quito . ..... 305 Attempts to surprise Gonzalo Pizarro ~X*i » . . . 306 Determines to give him Battle .... . . . . 307 Addresses his Troops ....... 308 r Inferiority of his Forces ....... 309 Battle of Anaquito ..... . . . 310 The Viceroy defeated ........ 311 Slain on the Field ........ 312 Great Slaughter of his Troops ...... 313 Character of Blasco Nunez . ., . . . 315 Difficulty of his Position . . ... . -^., .- . 316 Moderation of Gonzalo Pizarro . . . . . . 317 His Triumphant Progress to Lima ..... 318 Undisputed Master of Peru . . . . . . 319 Carbajal's Pursuit of Centeno ...... 320 He works the Mines of Potosi ...... 321 State assumed by Pizarro ....... 322 Urged to shake off his Allegiance ..... 323 His Hesitation ......... 324 Critical Notices of Herrera and Gomara .... 325 Life and Writings of Oviedo . . ^ . . . 327 And of Cieza de Leon .*' < 328 CONTENTS. XT BOOK V. SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. CHAPTER I. Page GREAT SENSATION IN SPAIN. — PEDRO DE LA GASCA. — His EARLY LIFE. — His MISSION TO PERU. — His POLITIC CONDUCT. — His OFFERS TO PIZARRO. — GAINS THE FLEET 333 Consternation produced in Spain 334 Embarrassments of the Government ..... 335 Conciliatory Measure adopted . . • «. -V.-v, • - ~r~- , . 336 Pedro de la Gasca . . . . . . . . 337 Account of his early Life . . . ••• *%•? '•' V-' 4> *''-v • 338 Selected for the Peruvian Mission . v ^ i;.- ; • ^ 340 Receives the Injunctions of Government «.•»••*• & •''••"•'- . . 341 Demands unlimited Powers && tf l*~?$b ,?«^v • " |1 . ; 342 Granted by the Emperor . . . . . . .343 Refuses a Bishopric ........ 345 Sails from San Lucar 346 State of Things in Peru 347 Gasca arrives at Nombre de Dios . . . . . . 348 His plain and unpretending Demeanour . . . . 349 He gains over Mexia '•;. < . 350 Cautious Reception of him by Hinojosa . . . . 351 He distributes Letters through the Country .... 352 Communicates with Gonzalo Pizarro ..... 353 His Letters to him and Cepeda . . . . T/^U, . 354 He is detained at Panama 355 Refuses to employ violent Measures . .' .-.« - ;••»* •••• . 356 Secret Anxiety of Pizarro . . . . - « ' . 357 He sends Aldana to Spain .... >»!..'.-;. 358 Interview of Aldana with Gasca • . . *?4 . . 361 He embraces the Royal Cause . . . . . .361 Hinojosa surrenders the Fleet to Gasca . -,vlv-V . 362 Gasca's temperate Policy succeeds s^V7 i-v'!'-?"-1.*^-'.* $ 363 CONTENTS. CHAPTER II. Pag* GASCA ASSEMBLES HIS FORCES. — DEFECTION OF GoNZALO Pl- ZARRO'S FOLLOWERS. — HE MUSTERS HIS LEVIES. — AGITA- TION IN LIMA. — HE ABANDONS THE CITY. — GASCA SAILS FROM PANAMA. — BLOODY BATTLE OF HUARINA . . 364 Gasca seeks Supplies of Men and Money .... 364 Aldana sent with a Squadron to Lima ..... 365 Influence of Gasca's Proclamations . '^jjj^.V- . .- 366 Change of Sentiment in the Country . '^S~ . . . 366 Letter of Gasca to Pizarro 367 Different Views of Carbajal and Cepeda ..... 368 Centeno seizes Cuzco for the Crown 369 Gonzalo's active Measures ....... 370 Splendid Equipment of his Army . . . . , 371 He becomes suspicious and violent 372 Solemn Farce of Cepeda 374 Aldaia arrives off Lima 375 Gonzalo's Followers desert to him 377 Perplexity of that Chief . . . . . . .378 He marches out of Lima . ... . . ,: * . » 379 Tempestuous Voyage of Gasca . . '} < y . ,. 380 He lands at Tumbez . . . . :v • • • 381 Encamps at Xauxa • • 382 Gonzalo resolves to retire to Chili . ^- * •,> . . 383 Centeno intercepts him . . . *jf.-* 'r • • • 384 Pizarro advances to Lake Titicaca 385 The two Armies approach Huarina ..... 386 Inferiority of the rebel Army . ^ ^ ,, . . . . 387 Carbajal's Arquebusiers 388 Battle of Huarina . . % •>*•- *- • • • 389 Centeno's Cavalry bear down all before them .... 390 Critical Situation of Pizarro . . . , . . 39 1 Carbajal's Musketeers retrieve the Day 392 Decisive Victory of the Rebels . . ,, ••:•.>*&• .«••-,;.*«• 394 Great Loss on both Sides . . .^j r .^Jf.mj. *•"**. *«i. 395 Escape of Centeno ..... .^' .. 396 Gonzalo Pizarro enters Cuzco in Triumph •-'•»fVu** •'.. • 3s7 CONTENTS. XVli CHAPTER III. Page DISMAY IN GASCA'S CAMP. — His WINTER QUARTERS. — RE- SUMES HIS MARCH. — CROSSES THE APURIMAC. — PIZARRO'S CONDUCT IN Cuzco. — HE ENCAMPS NEAR THE CITY. — ROUT OF XAQUIXAGUANA 399 Consternation in the Royal Camp ..... 399 Energetic Measures of the President . . . :j ..,.,. 400 He marches to Andaguaylas . . . . . . 401 Joined by Valdivia from Chili <* \;, ,.; * vt; ]*,;,. f,,,'.' „> • 402 Excellent Condition of Gasca's Troops . ,,,ifi« ,.- . 403 He sets out for Cuzco ,*.,,. 404 Difficult Passage of the Andes . . >,u- ,'yv > >f ,^-* 405 He throws a Bridge over the Apurimac . '';..*.,. . 7 ~* • 406 Great Hazard in crossing the River . . . ... 407 Dangerous Ascent of the Sierra . . . f ,;% ; ,„•• 408 He encamps on the Heights . . . . . «. , » 409 Gonzalo Pizarro's careless Indifference . >t ,....,;• . . . 410 Wise Counsel of Carbajal . . . - . '•^^0 V * 411 Rejected by his Commander . . . . . . .412 Acosta detached to guard the Passes 413 Tardy Movements of that Officer . . . . . .414 Valley of Xaquixaguana . . . " . . . . 415 Selected as a Battle-ground by Pizarro . ,7 . . .410 Gonzalo takes up a Position there 417 Approach of the Royal Army . . . . ; r *» . 418 Skirmish on the Heights 419 The President fears a Night Attack : ...;» ,; , . . V . . 420 The Armies drawn up in Battle-array . . . . 421 Chivalrous Bearing of Gonzalo . . . . ^ ..v v_ \_,..t . 422 Desertion of Cepeda . %g. . . •• >.»j«^' .-?!.; ,t.V .-*,<-, - HV v v *• 423 His Example followed by others . . . : . . 448 His Letter to the Army . . . . . . . 450 Value of Repartimientos . ... . . . 451 Murmurs of the Soldiery .' 452 The President goes to Lima ...... 453 His Care for the Natives 455 He abolishes Slavery in the Colonies 456 Introduces wholesome Reforms 457 Tranquillity restored to the Country . . . . s . 458 He refuses numerous Presents ...... 460 Embarks for Panama . . . . . . . 461 His narrow Escape there . . . . . . .461 Sails from Nombre de Dios 462 Arrives with his Treasure at Seville 462 Graciously received by the Emperor 463 Made Bishop of Siguenza . . . . *. : • . f . 463 His Death .— .y ;/ 464 His personal Appearance 465 Admirable Balance of his Qualities . . 466 *"•* CONTENTS. . xix Page His Common Sense . 457 His Rectitude and Moral Courage . ... . t 4^8 Concluding Reflections 470 Critical Notice of Zarate 471 Life and Writings of Fernandez . . 470 APPENDIX. ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. Description of the Inca's Progresses ..... 477 Account of the great Peruvian Road ..... 478 Policy of the Incas in their Conquests ..... 479 Will of Mancio Sierra Lejesema . . . . 482 Interview between Pedrarias and Almagro .... 484 Contract of Pizarro with Almagro and Luque . . . 486 Capitulation of Pizarro with the Queen ..... 490 Accounts of Atahuallpa's Seizure ..... 497 Personal Habits of Atahuallpa ...... 502 Accounts of Atahuallpa's Execution ..... 504 Contract between Pizarro and Almagro ..... 509 Letter of Almagro the Younger to the Audience . . 511 Letter of the Municipality of Arequipa to Charles the Fifth . 514 Sentence passed on Gonzalo Pizarro ..... 517 ** J* * * I BOOK THIRD CONQUEST OF PERU. (CONTINUED.) VOL. II. tt--! CONQUEST OF PERU. BOOK III. CONQUEST OF PERU. (CONTINUED.) CHAPTER IX. NEW INCA CROWNEU. — MUNICIPAL REGULATIONS. — TERRIBLE MARCH OF ALVARADO. — INTERVIEW WITH PIZARRO. — FOUNDATION OF LI- MA.— HERNANDO PIZARRO REACHES SPAIN. — SENSATION AT COURT. — FEUDS OF ALMAGRO AND THE PIZARROS. 1534 — 1535. /' THE first care of the Spanish general, after the division of the booty, was to place Manco on the throne, and to obtain for him the recognition of his countrymen. He, accordingly, presented the young prince to them as their future sovereign, the le- gitimate son of Huayna Capac, and the true heir of the Peruvian sceptre. The annunciation was received with enthusiasm by the people, attached to the memory of his illustrious father, and pleased that they were still to have a monarch rule over them of the ancient line of Cuzco. Every thing was done to maintain the illusion with the Indian population. The ceremonies of a 4 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BooK III. coronation were studiously observed. The young prince kept the prescribed fasts and vigils ; and on the appointed day, the nobles and the people, with the whole Spanish soldiery, assembled in the great square of Cuzco to witness the concluding cere- mony. Mass was publicly performed by Father Valverde, and the Inca Manco received the fringed diadem of Peru, not from the hand of the high- priest of his nation, but from his Conqueror, Pizarro. The Indian lords then tendered their obeisance in the customary form ; after which the royal notary read aloud the instrument asserting the supremacy of the Castilian Crown, and requiring the homage of all present to its authority. This address was explained by an interpreter, and the ceremony of homage was performed by each one of the parties waving the royal banner of Castile twice or thrice with his hands. Manco then pledged the Spanish commander in a golden goblet of the sparkling chi- cha; and, the latter having cordially embraced the new monarch, the trumpets announced the conclu- sion of the ceremony.1 But it was riot the note of triumph, but of humiliation ; for it proclaimed that the armed foot of the stranger was in the halls of the Peruvian Incas ; that the ceremony of corona- tion was a miserable pageant; that their prince himself was but a puppet in the hands of his Con- queror; and that the glory of the Children of the Sun had departed for ever ! i Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — Fed. Sancho, Rel., ap. Ramusio, torn. III. fol. 407. CH. IX.] NEW INCA CROWNED. 5 Yet the people readily gave in to the illusion, and seemed willing to accept this image of their ancient independence. The accession of the young mon- arch was greeted by all the usual fetes and rejoic- ings. The mummies of his royal ancestors, with such ornaments as were still left to them, were paraded in the great square. They were attended each by his own numerous retinue, who performed all the menial offices, as if the object of them were alive and could feel their import. Each ghostly form took its seat at the banquet-table — now, alas ! stripped of the magnificent service with which it was wont to blaze at these high festivals — and the guests drank deep to the illustrious dead. Dancing succeeded the carousal, and the festivities, prolonged to a late hour, were continued night after night by the giddy population, as if their conquerors had not been intrenched in the capital ! 2 — What a contrast to the Aztecs in the conquest of Mexico ! Pizarro's next concern was to organize a munici- pal government for Cuzco, like those in the cities of the parent country. Two alcaldes were appoint- ed, and eight regidores, among which last func- tionaries were his brothers Gonzalo and Juan. The oaths of office were administered with great 2 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y todos por orden los'sacaban de,alli Conq., MS. y los trahian a la ciudad, teniendo " Luego por la manana iba al cada uno su litera, y hombres con enterramiento donde estaban cada su librea, que le trujesen, y ansi uno por orden embalsamados como desta manera todo el servicio y es dicho, y asentados en sus sillas, aderezos como si estubiera vivo." y con mucha veneracion y respeto, Relacion del Primer. Descub., MS. 6 CONQUEST OF PERU. [Boon III. solemnity, on the twenty-fourth of March, 1534, in presence both of Spaniards and Peruvians, in the public square ; as if the general were willing by this ceremony to intimate to the latter, that, while they retained the semblance of their ancient institu- tions, the real power was henceforth vested in their conquerors.3 He invited Spaniards to settle in the place by liberal grants of land and houses, for which means were afforded by the numerous palaces and public buildings of the Incas ; and many a cavalier, who had been too poor in his own country to find a place to rest in, now saw himself the proprietor of a spacious mansion that might have entertained the retinue of a prince.4 From this time, says an old chronicler, Pizarro, who had hitherto been distin- guished by his military title of " Captain-General," was addressed by that of " Governor."5 Both had been bestowed on him by the royal grant. Nor did the chief neglect the interests of religion. Father Valverde, whose nomination as Bishop of 3 Fed. Sancho, ReL, ap. Ra- Real., Parte 1, lib. 7, cap. 9, et musio, torn. III. fol. 409. — Mon- seq. tesinos, Annales, MS., ano 1534. When a building was of im- — Actto de la fundacion del Cuzco, mense size, as happened with some MS. of the temples and palaces, it was This instrument, which belongs assigned to two or even three of to the collection of Munoz, records the Conquerors, who each took not only the names of the magis- his share of it. Garcilasso, who trates, but of the vecinos who formed describes the city as it was soon the first population of the Christian after the Conquest, commemorates capital. with sufficient prolixity the names 4 Actto de la fundacion del Cuz- of the cavaliers among whom the co, MS. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. buildings were distributed. y Conq., MS. — Garcilasso, Com. 5 Montesinos, Annales, ano 1534. CH. IX.J MUNICIPAL REGULATIONS. 7 Cuzco not long afterwards received the Papal sanc- tion, prepared to enter on the duties of his office. A place was selected for the cathedral of his dio- cese, facing the plaza. A spacious monastery subse- quently rose on the ruins of the gorgeous House of the Sun ; its walls were constructed of the ancient stones ; the altar was raised on the spot where shone the bright image of the Peruvian deity, and the cloisters of the Indian temple were trodden by the friars of St. Dominic.6 To make the meta- morphosis more complete, the House of the Virgins of the Sun was replaced by a Roman Catholic nun- nery.7 Christian churches and monasteries gradual- ly supplanted the ancient edifices, and such of the latter as were suffered to remain, despoiled of their heathen insignia, were placed under the protection of the Cross. The Fathers of St. Dominic, the Brethren of the Order of Mercy, and other missionaries, now busied themselves in the good work of conversion. We have seen that Pizarro was required by the Crown to bring out a certain number of these holy men in his own vessels; and every succeeding vessel brought an additional reinforcement of ecclesiastics. 6 Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte tity was all a feint," says Pedro 1, lib. 3, cap. 20; lib. 6, cap. 21. Pizarro, "for they had constant — Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, MS. amours with the attendants on the 7 Ulloa, Voyage to S. America, temple." (Descub. y Conq., MS.) book 7, ch. 12. — What is truth? — In statements " The Indian nuns," says the so contradictory, we may accept author of the Relacion del Primer, the most favorable to the Peruvian. Descub., "lived chastely and in The prejudices of the Conqueror? a holy manner," — " Their chas- certainly did not lie on that side. 8 CONQUEST OF PERU. [Boos III. They were not all like the Bishop of Cuzco, with hearts so seared by fanaticism as to be closed against sympathy with the unfortunate natives.8 They were, many of them, men of singular humili- ty, who followed in the track of the conqueror to scatter the seeds of spiritual truth, and, with disin- terested zeal, devoted themselves to the propagation of the Gospel. Thus did their pious labors prove them the true soldiers of the Cross, and showed that the object so ostentatiously avowed of carrying its banner among the heathen nations was not an empty vaunt. The effort to Christianize the heathen is an hon- orable characteristic of the Spanish conquests. The Puritan, with equal religious zeal, did comparatively little for the conversion of the Indian, content, as it would seem, with having secured to himself the inestimable privilege of worshipping God in his own way. Other adventurers who have occupied the New World have often had too little regard for re- ligion themselves, to be very solicitous about spread- ing it among the savages. But the Spanish mis- sionary, from first to last, has shown a keen interest in the spiritual welfare of the natives. Under his 8 Such, however, it is but fair his countrymen. " JEs persona do to Valverde to state, is not the mucho exemplo i Doctrina i con language applied to him by the quien todos los Espanoles an te- rude soldiers of the Conquest. The nido mucho consuelo." (Carta de municipality of Xauxa, in a com- la Just, y Reg. de Xauxa, MS.) munication to the Court, extol the And yet this is not incompatible Dominican as an exemplary and with a high degree of insensibility learned divine, who had afforded to the natural rights of the na- much serviceable consolation to tives. CH. IX.] MUNICIPAL REGULATIONS. 9 auspices, churches on a magnificent scale have been erected, schools for elementary instruction founded, and every rational means taken to spread the knowl- edge of religious truth, while he has carried his solitary mission into remote and almost inacces- sible regions, or gathered his Indian disciples into communities,' like the good Las Casas in Cuma- na, or the Jesuits in California and Paraguay. At all times, the courageous ecclesiastic has been ready to lift his voice against the cruelty of the conqueror, and the no less wasting cupidity of the colonist ; and when his remonstrances, as was too often the case, have proved unavailing, he has still followed to bind up the broken-hearted, to teach the poor Indian resignation under his lot, and light up \ his dark intellect with the revelation of a holier and happier existence. — In reviewing the blood-stained records of Spanish colonial history, it is but fair, and at the same time cheering, to reflect, that the same nation which sent forth the hard-hearted con- queror from its bosom sent forth the missionary to do the work of beneficence, and spread the light of Christian civilization over the farthest regions of the New World. While the governor, as we are henceforth to style him, lay at Cuzco, he received repeated accounts of a considerable force in the neighbourhood, under the command of Atahuallpa's officer, Quizquiz. He accordingly detached Almagro, with a small body of horse and a large Indian force under the Inca Man-- co, to disperse the enemy, and, if possible, to cap- VOL. II. 2 10 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BooK III. , ture their leader. Manco was the more ready to take part in the expedition, as the enemy were sol- diers of Quito, who, with their commander, bore no good-will to himself. Almagro, moving with his characteristic rapidity, was not long in coming up with the Indian chief- tain. Several sharp encounters followed, as the army of Quito fell back on Xauxa, near which a general engagement decided the fate of the war by the total discomfiture of the natives. Quizquiz fled to the elevated plains of Quito, where he still held out with undaunted spirit against a Spanish force in that quarter, till at length his own soldiers, wearied by these long and ineffectual hostilities, massacred their commander in cold blood.9 Thus fell the last of the two great officers of Atahuallpa, who, if their nation had been animated by a spirit equal to their own, might long have successfully main- tained their soil against the invader. Some time before this occurrence, the Spanish governor, while in Cuzco, received tidings of an event much more alarming to him than any Indian hostilities. This was the arrival on the coast of a strong Spanish force, under command of Don Pedro de Alvarado, the gallant officer who had served under Cortes with such renown in the war of Mexico. That cavalier, after forming a bril- 9 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y cap. 20. — Ped. Sancho, Rel., ap. Conq., MS. — Naharro, Relacion Ramusio, torn. III. fol. 408. — Re- Sumaria, MS. — Oviedo, Hist, de lacion del Primer. Descub., MS. las Indias, MS., Parte 3, lib. 8, CH. IX.] TERRIBLE MARCH OF ALVARADO. H liant alliance in Spain, to which he was entitled by his birth and military rank, had returned to his gov- ernment of Guatemala, where his avarice had fyeen roused by the magnificent reports he daily received of Pizarro's conquests. These conquests, he learn- ed, had been confined to Peru ; while the northern kingdom of Quito, the ancient residence of Atahu- allpa, and, no doubt, the principal depository of his treasures, yet remained untouched. Affecting to consider this country as falling without the govern- or's jurisdiction, he immediately turned a large fleet, which he had intended for the Spice Islands, in the direction of South America ; and in March, 1534, he landed in the bay of Caraques, with five hundred followers, of whom half were mounted, and all ad- mirably provided with arms and ammunition. It was the best equipped and most formidable array that had yet appeared in the southern seas.10 Although manifestly an invasion of the territory conceded to Pizarro by the Crown, the reckless cavalier determined to march at once on Quito. With the assistance of an Indian guide, he proposed to take the direct route across the mountains, a pas- sage of exceeding difficulty, even at the most favor- able season. After crossing the Rio Dable, Alvarado's guide1 deserted him, so that he was soon entangled in the 10 The number is variously re- force amounted to 500, of which ported by historians. But from a 230 were cavalry. — Informacion legal investigation made in Guate- echa en Santiago, Set. 15, 1536, mala, it appears that the whole MS. 12 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BooK III. intricate mazes of the sierra : and, as he rose higher 77 o and higher into the regions of winter, he became surrounded with ice and snow, for which his men, taken from the warm countries of Guatemala, were but ill prepared. As the cold grew more intense, many of them were so benumbed, that it was with difficulty they could proceed. The infantry, com- pelled to make exertions, fared best. Many of the troopers were frozen stiff in their saddles. The Indians, still more sensible to the cold, perished by hundreds. As the Spaniards huddled round their wretched bivouacs, with such scanty fuel as they could glean, and almost without food, they waited in gloomy silence the approach of morning. Yet the morning light, which gleamed coldly on the cheerless waste, brought no joy to them. It only revealed more clearly the extent of their wretched- ness. Still struggling on through the winding Pu- ertos Nevados, or Snowy Passes, their track was dismally marked by fragments of dress, broken har- ness, golden ornaments, and other valuables plun- dered on their march, — by the dead bodies of men, or by those less fortunate, who were left to die alone in the wilderness. As for the horses, their carcasses were not suffered long to cumber the ground, as they were quickly seized and devoured half raw by the starving soldiers, who, like the fam- ished condors, now hovering in troops above their heads, greedily banqueted on the most offensive offal to satisfy the gnawings of hunger. Alvarado, anxious to secure the booty which had CH. IX.] TERRIBLE MARCH OF ALVARADO. 13 fallen into his hands at an earlier part of his march, encouraged every man to take what gold he wanted from the common heap, reserving only the royal fifth. But they only answered, with a ghastly smile of derision, " that food was the only gold for them." Yet in this extremity, which might seem to have dissolved the very ties of nature, there are some affecting instances recorded of self-devotion ; of comrades who lost their lives in assisting others, and of parents and husbands (for some of the cavaliers were accompanied by their wives) who, instead of seeking their own safety, chose to re- main and perish in the snows with the objects of their love. To add to their distress, the air was filled for several days with thick clouds of earthy particles and cinders, which blinded the men, and made respiration exceedingly difficult.11 This phenome- non, it seems probable, was caused by an erup- tion of the distant Cotopaxi, which, about twelve leagues southeast of Quito, rears up its colossal and perfectly symmetrical cone far above the limits of eternal snow, — the most beautiful and the most terrible of the American volcanoes.12 At the time 11 " It began to rain earthy par- Quito." (Com. Real., Parte 2, tides from the heavens," says lib. 2, cap. 2.) Cieza de Leon Oviedo, "that blinded the men and only says from one of the volca- horses, so that the trees and bushes noes in that region. (Cronica, were full of dirt." Hist, de las cap. 41.) Neither of them specify Indias, MS., Parte 3, lib. 8, cap. the name. Humboldt accepts the 20. common opinion, that Cotopaxi 12 Garcilasso says the shower of was intended. Researches, I. 123. ashes came from the "volcano of IP* .' 14 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BOOK HI. of Alvarado's expedition, it was in a state of erup- tion, the earliest instance of the kind on record, though doubtless not the earliest.13 Since that pe- riod, it has been in frequent commotion, sending up its sheets of flame to the height of half a mile, spouting forth cataracts of lava that have over- whelmed towns and villages in their career, and shaking the earth with subterraneous thunders, that, at the distance of more than a hundred leagues, sounded like the reports of artillery ! 14 Alvarado's followers, unacquainted with the cause of the phe- nomenon, as they wandered over tracts buried in snow, — the sight of which was strange to them, — in an atmosphere laden with ashes, became be- wildered by this confusion of the elements, which Nature seemed to have contrived purposly for their destruction. Some of these men were the soldiers of Cortes, steeled by many a painful march, and many a sharp encounter with the Aztecs. But this war of the elements, they now confessed, was mightier than all. At length, Alvarado, after sufferings, which even the most hardy, probably, could have endured but 13 A popular tradition among M. de Humboldt, (Researches, I. the natives states, that a large frag- 118, et seq.,) and more circum- ment of porphyry near the base of stantially by Condamine. (Voy- the cone was thrown out in ah age a 1'Equateur, pp. 48-56, eruption, which occurred at the 156-160.) The latter philoso- moment of Atahuallpa's death. — pher would have attempted to scale But such tradition will hardly pass the almost perpendicular walls of for history. the volcano, but no one was hardy 14 A minute account of this enough to second him. formidable mountain is given by CH. IX.] TERRIBLE MARCH OF ALVARADO. 15 a few days longer, emerged from the Snowy Pass, and came on the elevated table-land, which spreads out, at the height of more than nine thousand feet above the ocean, in the neighbourhood of Riobam- ba. But one fourth of his gallant army had been left to feed the condor in the wilderness, besides the greater part, at least two thousand, of his Indian auxiliaries. A great number of his horses, too, had perished ; and the men and horses that escaped were all of them more or less injured by the cold and the extremity of suffering. — Such was the terrible passage of the Puertos Nevados, which I have only briefly noticed as an episode to the Peruvian conquest, but the account of which, in all its details, though it occupied but a few weeks in duration, would give one a better idea of the difficulties encountered by the Spanish cav- aliers, than volumes of ordinary narrative.15 As Alvarado, after halting some time to restore his exhausted troops, began his march across the broad plateau, he was astonished by seeing the *- £i ' ' ' 15 By far the most spirited and Alvarado, in the letter above thorough record of Alvarado 's cited, which is preserved in the inarch is given by Herrera, who Munoz collection, explains to the has borrowed the pen of Livy Emperor the grounds of his expe- describing the Alpine march of dition, with no little effrontery. Hannibal. (Hist. General, dec. 5, In this document he touches very lib. 6, cap. 1, 2, 7, 8, 9.) See briefly on the march, being chiefly also Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y occupied by the negotiations with Conq., MS., — Oviedo, Hist, de Almagro, and accompanying his .as Indias, MS., Parte 3, lib. 8, remarks with many dark sugges- sap. 20, — and Carta de Pedro de tions as to the policy pursued by Alvarado al Emperador, San Mi- the Conquerors. *uel, 15 de Enero, 1535, MS. 16 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BooK III prints of horses' hoofs on the soil. Spaniards, then, had been there before him, and, after all his toil and suffering, others had forestalled him in the enter- prise against Quito ! It is necessary to say a few words in explanation of this. When Pizarro quitted Caxamalca, being sensible of the growing importance of San Miguel, the only port of entry then in the country, he despatched a person in whom he had great confidence to take charge of it. This person was Sebastian Benalca- zar, a cavalier who afterwards placed his name in the first rank of the South American conquerors, for courage, capacity, — and cruelty. But this cavalier had hardly reached his government, when, like Alvarado, he received such accounts of the riches of Quito, that he determined, with the force at his command, though without orders, to undertake its reduction. At the head of about a hundred and forty sol- diers, horse and foot, and a stout body of Indian auxiliaries, he marched up the broad range of the Andes, to where it spreads out into the table-land of Quito, by a road safer and more expeditious than that taken by Alvarado. On the plains of Rio- bamba, he encountered the Indian general Rumina- vi. Several engagements followed, with doubtful success, when, in the end, science prevailed where courage was well matched, and the victorious Ben- alcazar planted the standard of Castile on the an- cient towers of Atahuallpa. The city, in honor of his general, Francis Pizarro, he named San Fran- CH. IX.] TERRIBLE MARCH OF ALVARADO. 17 cisco del Quito. But great was his mortification on finding that either the stories of its riches had o been fabricated, or that these riches were secreted by the natives. The city was all that he gained by his victories, — the shell without the pearl of price which gave it its value. While devouring his cha- grin, as he best could, the Spanish captain received tidings of the approach of his superior, Almagro.16 No sooner had the news of Alvarado's expedition reached Cuzco, than Almagro left the place with a small force for San Miguel, proposing to strengthen himself by a reinforcement from that quarter, and to march at once against the invaders. Greatly was he astonished, on his arrival in that city, to learn the departure of its commander. Doubting the loyalty of his motives, Almagro, with the buoy- ancy of spirit which belongs to youth, though in truth somewhat enfeebled by the infirmities of age, did not hesitate to follow Bfenalcazar at once across the mountains. > #£* < With his wonted energy, the intrepid . veteran, overcoming all the difficulties of his march, in a few weeks placed himself and his little company on the lofty plains which spread around the Ind- ian city of Riobamba ; though in his progress he had more than one hot encounter with the na- tives, whose courage and perseverance formed a 16 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y qe las Indias, MS., Parte 3, lib. 8, Conq., MS. — Herrera, Hist. Ge- cap. 19. — Carta de Benalcazar, neral, dec. 5, lib. 4, cap. 11, 18; MS. lib. 6, cap. 5, 6. — Oviedo, Hist. VOL. II. 3 18 CONQUEST OF PERU. [Boos III. contrast sufficiently striking to the apathy of the Peruvians. But the fire only slumbered in the bosom of the Peruvian. His hour had not yet come. At Riobamba, Almagro was soon joined by the commander of San Miguel, who disclaimed, per- haps sincerely, any disloyal intent in his unau- thorized expedition. Thus reinforced, the Spanish captain coolly awaited the coming of Alvarado. The forces of the latter, though in a less serviceable condition, were much superior in number and ap- pointments to those of his rival. As they con- fronted each other on the broad plains of Riobamba, it seemed probable that a fierce struggle must im- mediately follow, and the natives of the country have the satisfaction to see their wrongs avenged by the very hands that inflicted them. But it was Almagro's policy to avoid such an issue. Negotiations were set on foot, in which each party stated his claims to the country. Meanwhile Alvarado's men mingled freely with their country- men in the opposite army, and heard there such magnificent reports of the wealth and wonders of Cuzco, that many of them were inclined to change their present service for that of Pizarro. Their own leader, too, satisfied that Quito held out no recompense worth the sacrifices he had made, and was like to make, by insisting on his claim, became now more sensible of the rashness of a course which must doubtless incur the censure of his sovereign. In this temper, it was not difficult for them to effect r* CH. IX.] TERRIBLE MARCH OF ALVARADO. 19 an adjustment of difficulties ; and it was agreed, as the basis of it, that the governor should pay one hundred thousand pesos de oro to Alvarado, in con- sideration of which the latter was to resign to him his fleet, his forces, and all his stores and munitions. His vessels, great and small, amounted to twelve in number, and the sum he received, though large, did not cover his expenses. This treaty being settled* Alvarado proposed, before leaving the country, to have an interview with Pizarro.17 The governor, meanwhile, had quitted the Peru- vian capital for the sea-coast, from his desire to repel any invasion that might be attempted in that direc- tion by Alvarado, with whose real movements he was still unacquainted. He left Cuzco in charge of his brother Juan, a cavalier whose manners were such as, he thought, would be likely to gain the good- will of the native population. Pizarro also left ninety of his troops, as the garrison of the capital, 17 Conq. i Fob. del Piru, MS. choice but to take it, although it — Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, was greatly to his own loss, and, MS. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y by defeating his expedition, as he Conq., MS. — Herrera, Hisf. Ge- modestly intimates, to the loss of neral, dec. 5, lib. 6, cap. 8-10.- — the Crown. (Carta de Alvarado Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., al Emperador, MS.) — Almagro, Parte 3. lib. 8, cap. 20. — Carta however, states that the sum paid de Benalcazar, MS. was three times as much as the The amount of the bonus paid to armament was worth ; "a sacri- Alvarado is stated very differently fice," he adds, "which he made by writers. But both that cavalier to preserve peace, never dear at and Almagro, in their letters to any price." — Strange sentiment the Emperor, which have hitherto for a Castilian conqueror ! Carta been unknown to historians, agree de Diego de Almagro al Empera- in the sum given in the text. Al- dor, MS., Oct. 15, 1534. varado complains that he had no 20 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BOOK III. and the nucleus of his future colony. Then, tak- ing the Inca Manco with him, he proceeded as far as Xauxa. At this place he was entertained by the Indian prince with the exhibition of a great national hunt, — such as has been already described in these pages, — in which immense numbers of wild animals were slaughtered, and the vicunas, and other races of Peruvian sheep, which roam over the mountains, driven into inclosures and relieved of their delicate fleeces.18 The Spanish governor then proceeded to Pa- chacamac, where he received the grateful intelli- gence of the accommodation with Alvarado ; and 18 Carta de la Just, y Reg. de Xauja, MS. — Relacion del Pri- mer. Descub., MS. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 6, cap. 16. — Montesinos, Annales, MS., afio 1534. At this place, the author of the Relacion del Primer Descubrimien- to del J%ru, the MS. so often quoted in these pages, abruptly terminates his labors. He is a writer of sense and observation ; and, though he has his share of the national tendency to exaggerate and overcolor, he writes like one who means to be honest, and who has seen what he describes. At Xauxa, also, the notary Pe- dro Sancho ends his Relacion, which embraces a much shorter period than the preceding narra- tive, but which is equally authen- tic. Coming from the secretary of Pizarro, and countersigned by that general himself, this Relation, indeed, may be regarded as of the very highest authority. And yet large deductions must obviously be made for the source whence it springs ; far it may be taken as Pizarro's own account of his do- ings, some of which stood much in need of apology. It must be added, in justice both to the gen- eral and to his secretary, that the Relation does not differ substan- tially from other contemporary ac- counts, and 'that the attempt to varnish over the exceptionable passages in the conduct of the Conquerors is not obtrusive. For the publication of this jour- nal, we are indebted to Ramusio, whose enlightened labors have pre- served to us more than one con- temporary production of value, though in the form of translation. CH IX.J INTERVIEW WITH PIZARRO. 21 not long afterward he was visited by that cavalier himself, previously to his embarkation. The meeting was conducted with courtesy and a show, at least, of good- will, on both sides, as there was no longer real cause for jealousy between the parties; and each, as may be imagined, looked on the other with no little interest, as having achieved such distinction in the bold path of adventure. In the comparison, Alvarado had somewhat the advan- tage ; for Pizarro, though of commanding presence, had not the brilliant exterior, the free and joyous manner, which, no less than his fresh complexion and sunny locks, had won for the conqueror of Guatemala, in his campaigns against the Aztecs, the sobriquet of Tonatiuh, or " Child of the Sun." Blithe were the revels that now rang through the ancient city of Pachacamac ; where, instead of songs, and of the sacrifices so often seen there in honor of the Indian deity, the walls echoed to the noise of tourneys and Moorish tilts of reeds, with which the martial adventurers loved to recall the sports of their native land. When these were con- cluded, Alvarado reembarked for his government of Guatemala, where his restless spirit soon in- volved him in other enterprises that cut short his adventurous career. His expedition to Peru was eminently characteristic of the man. It was found- ed in injustice, conducted with rashness, and ended in disaster.19 19 Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, Conq., MS. — Carta de Francisco MS. — Pedro Pizarro, Deseub. y Pizarro al Seiior de Molina, MS. 'f . ,.'Jpw .r.. • ^ 22 CONQUEST OF PERU. [Boox III. The reduction of Peru might now be considered as, in a manner, accomplished. Some barbarous tribes in the interior, it is true, still held out, and Alonso de Alvarado, a prudent and able officer, was employed to bring them into subjection. Benal- cazar was still at Quito, of which he was subse- quently appointed governor by the Crown. There he was laying deeper the foundation of the Spanish power, while he advanced the line of conquest still higher towards the north. But Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Indian monarchy, had submitted. The armies of Atahuallpa had been beaten and scattered. The empire of the Incas was dissolved ; and the prince who now wpre the Peruvian diadem was but the shadow of a king, who held his com- mission from his conqueror. The first act of the governor was to determine on the site of the future capital of this vast colonial empire. Cuzco^, withdrawn among the mountains, was altogether too far removed from the sea-coast for a commercial people. The little settlement of San Miguel lay too far to the north. It was desira- ble to select some more central position, which could be easily found in one of the fruitful valleys that bordered the Pacific. Such was that of Pachaca- mac, tvhich Pizarro now occupied. But, on further Alvarado died in 1541, of an year, by a singular coincidence, injury received from a horse which perished his beautiful wife, at her rolled down on him as he was own residence in Guatemala, which attempting to scale a precipitous was overwhelmed by a torrent from hill in New Galicia. In the same the adjacent mountains. CH. IX.] FOUNDATION OF LIMA. 23 examination, he preferred the neighbouring valley of Rimac, which lay to the north, and which took its name, signifying in the Quichua tongue " one who speaks," from a celebrated idol, whose shrine was much frequented by the Indians for the oracles it delivered. Through the valley flowed a broad stream, which, like a great artery, was made, as usual by the natives; to supply a thousand finer veins that meandered through the beautiful meadows. On this • river Pizarro fixed the site of his new capital, at somewhat less than two leagues' distance from its mouth, which expanded into a commodious haven for the commerce that the prophetic eye of the founder saw would one day — and no very dis- tant one — float on its waters. The central situa- tion of the spot recommended it as a suitable resi- dence for the Peruvian viceroy, whence he might hold easy communication with the different parts of the country, and keep vigilant watch over his Indian vassals. The climate was delightful, and, though only twelve degrees south of the line, was so far tempered by the cool breezes that generally blow from the Pacific, or from the opposite quarter down the frozen sides of the Cordilleras, that the heat was less than in corresponding latitudes on the con- tinent. It never rained on the coast; but this dry- ness was corrected by a vaporous cloud, which, through the summer months, hung like a curtain over the valley, sheltering it from the rays of a trop- ical sun, and imperceptibly distilling a refreshing moisture, that clothed the fields in the brightest verdure. 24 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BOOK III. The name bestowed on the infant capital was Ciudad de los Reyes, or City of the Kings, in honor of the day, being the sixth of January, 1535, — the festival of Epiphany, — when it was said to have been founded, or more probably when its site was determined, as its actual foundation seems to have been twelve days later.20 Btit the Castilian name ceased to be used even within the first generation, and was supplanted by that of Lima, into which the original Indian name of Rimac was corrupted by the Spaniards.21 The city was laid out on a very regular plan. The streets were to be much wider than usual in Spanish towns, and perfectly straight, crossing one another at right angles, and so far asunder as to af- ford ample space for gardens to the dwellings, and for public squares. It was arranged in a triangular form, having the river for its base, the waters of which were to be carried, by means of stone con- duits, through all the principal streets, affording facilities for irrigating the grounds around the houses. No sooner had the governor decided on the site 90 So says Quintana, who follows marquez se passo a Lima y fundo in this what he pronounces a sure la ciudad de los rreyes que agora authority, Father Bemabe Cobo, es." (Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y in his book entitled Fundacion de Conq.,MS.) " Asimismo ordena- Lima. Espanoles Celebres, tora. ron que se pasasen el pueblo que II. p. 250, nota. tenian en Xauxa poblado a este 21 The MSS. of the old Con- Valle de Lima donde agora es esta querors show how, from the very ciudad de los i aqui se poblov* first, the name of Lima superseded Conq. i Fob. del Piru, MS. the original Indian title. " Y el CH. IX.] FOUNDATION OF LIMA. 25 and on the plan of the city, than he commenced operations with his characteristic energy. The Indians were collected from the distance of more than a hundred miles to aid in the work. The Spaniards applied themselves with vigor to the task, under the eye of their chief. The sword was ex- changed for the tool of the artisan. The camp was converted into a hive of diligent laborers ; and the sounds of war were succeeded by the peace- ful hum of a busy population. The plaza, which was extensive, was to be surrounded by the cathe- dral, the palace of the viceroy, that of the munici- pality, and other public buildings ; and their foun- dations were laid on a scale, and with a solidity, which defied the assaults of time, and, in some in- stances, even the more formidable shock of earth- quakes, that, at different periods, have laid portions of the fair capital in ruins.22 . -1^-4* i While these events were going on, Almagro, the Marshal, as he is usually termed by chroniclers of the time, had gone to Cuzco, whither he was sent by Pizarro to take command of that capital* He received also instructions to undertake, either by himself or by his captains, the conquest of the countries towards the south, forming part of Chili. Almagro, since his arrival at Caxamalca, had seemed 22 Montesinos, Annales, MS., who gives the best account of Lima afio 1535. — Conq. i Fob. del to be found in any modern book Piru, MS. of travels which I have consulted. The remains of Pizarro's palace Residence in South America, vol. may still be discerned in the Calk- II. chap. 8. jon de Petateros, says Stevenson, VOL. II. 4 26 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BOOK III. willing to smother his ancient feelings of resentment towards his associate, or, at least, to conceal the expression of them, ' and had consented to take command under him in obedience to the royal man- date. He had even, in his despatches, the mag- nanimity to make honorable mention of Pizarro, as one anxious to promote the interests of govern- ment. Yet he did not so far trust his companion, as to neglect the precaution of sending a confiden- tial agent to represent his own services, when Her- nando Pizarro undertook his mission to the mother- country. That cavalier, after touching at St. Domingo, had arrived without accident at Seville, in January, 1534. Besides the royal fifth, he took with him gold, to the value of half a million of pesos, together with a large quantity of silver, the property of private ad- .venturers, some of whom, satisfied with their gains, had returned to Spain in the same vessel with him- self. The custom-house was filled with solid ingots, and with vases of different forms, imitations of ani- mals, flowers, fountains, and other objects, executed with more or less skill, and all of pure gold, to the astonishment of the spectators, who flocked from the neighbouring country to gaze on these mar- vellous productions of Indian art.23 Most of the manufactured articles were the property of the Crown ; and Hernando Pizarro, after a short stay at Seville, selected some of the most gorgeous speci- 23 Herrera, Hist. General, dec. lo que Hernando Pizarro trajo del 5, lib. 6, cap. 13. — Lista de todo Peru, ap. MSS. de Mufioz. CH. IX.] HERNANDO PIZARRO REACHES SPAIN. 27 mens, and crossed the country to Calatayud, where the emperor was holding the cortes of Aragon. Hernando was instantly admitted to the royal presence, and obtained a gracious audience. He was more conversant with courts than either of his brothers, and his manners, when in situations that imposed a restraint on the natural arrogance of his temper, were graceful and even attractive. In a re- spectful tone, he now recited the stirring adventures of his brother and his little troop of followers, the fatigues they had endured, the difficulties they had overcome, their capture of the Peruvian Inca, and his magnificent ransom. He had not to tell of the massacre of the unfortunate prince, for that tragic event, which had occurred since his departure from the country, was still unknown to him. The cava- lier expatiated on the productiveness of the soil, and on the civilization of the people, evinced by their proficiency in various mechanic arts ; in proof of which he displayed the manufactures of wool and cotton, and the rich ornaments of gold and silver. The monarch's eyes sparkled with delight as he gazed on these last. He was too sagacious not to appreciate the advantages of a conquest which se- cured to him a country so rich in agricultural re- sources. But the returns from these must neces- sarily be gradual and long deferred ; and he may be excused for listening with still greater satisfaction to Pizarro's tales of its mineral stores ; for his ambitious projects had drained the imperial treasury, and he saw in the golden tide thus unexpectedly poured in upon him the immediate means of replenishing it. CONQUEST OF PERU. [Boos III. Charles made no difficulty, therefore, in granting the petitions of the fortunate adventurer. All the previous grants to Francis Pizarro and his associ- ates were confirmed in the fullest manner ; and the boundaries of the governor's jurisdiction were ex tended seventy leagues further towards the south. Nor did Almagro's services, this time, go unrequited. He was empowered to discover and occupy the country for the distance of two hundred leagues, beginning at the southern limit of Pizarro's terri- tory.24 Charles, in proof, still further, of his satis- faction, was graciously pleased to address a letter to the two commanders, in which he complimented them on their prowess, arid thanked them for their services. This act of justice to Almagro would have been highly honorable to Hernando Pizarro, considering the unfriendly relations in which they stood to each other, had it not been made neces- sary by the presence of the marshal's own agents at court, who, as already noticed, stood ready to supply any^deficiency in the statements of the em- issary. In this display of the royal bounty, the envoy, as will readily be believed, did not go without his re- ward. He was lodged as an attendant of the Court; was made a knight of Santiago, the most 24 The country to be occupied name was as ineffectual as the for- received the name of New Toledo, mer, and the ancient title of Chili in the royal grant, as the conquests still designates that narrow strip of Pizarro had been designated by of fruitful land between the Andes that of New Castile. But the pres- and the ocean, which stretches to ent attempt to change the Indian the south of the great continent. CH. IX.] SENSATION AT COURT. 29 prized of the chivalric orders in Spain ; was em- powered to equip an armament, and to take com- mand of it ; and the royal officers at Seville were required to aid him in his views and facilitate his embarkation for the Indies.25 The arrival of Hernando Pizarro in the country, and the reports spread by him and his followers, created a sensation among the Spaniards such as had not been felt since the first voyage of Colum- bus. The discovery of the New World had filled the minds of men with indefinite expectations of wealth, of which almost every succeeding expedition had proved the fallacy. The conquest of Mexico, though calling forth general admiration as a brilliant and wonderful exploit, had as yet failed to produce those golden results which had been so fondly an- ticipated. The splendid promises held out by Fran- cis Pizarro on his recent visit to the country had not revived the confidence of his countrymen, made in- credulous by repeated disappointment. All that they were assured of was the difficulties of the en- terprise ; and their distrust of its results was suffi- ciently shown by the small number of followers, and those only of the most desperate stamp, who were willing to take their chance in the adventure. But now these promises were realized. It was no longer the golden reports that they were to trust; but the gold itself, which was displayed in such pro- fusion before them. All eyes were now turned towards the West. The broken spendthrift saw in 25 Ibid., loc. cit. 30 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BOOK III. it the quarter where he was to repair his fortunes as speedily as he had ruined them. The merchant, instead of seeking the precious commodities of the East, looked in the opposite direction, and counted on far higher gains, where the most common articles of life commanded so exorbitant prices. The cava- lier, eager to win both gold and glory at the point of his lance, thought to find a fair field for his prow- ess on the mountain plains of the Andes. Ferdi- nand Pizarro found that his brother had judged rightly in allowing as many of his company as chose to return home, confident that the display of their wealth would draw ten to his banner for every one that quitted it. In a short time that cavalier saw himself at the head of one of the most numerous and well-appoint- ed armaments, probably,, that had left the shores of Spain since the great fleet of Ovando, in the time of Ferdinand and Isabella. It was scarcely more fortunate than this. Hardly had Ferdinand put to sea, when a violent tempest fell on the squadron, and compelled him to return to port and refit. At length he crossed the ocean, and reached the little harbour of Nombre de Dios in safety. But no prep- arations had been made for his coming, and, as he was detained here some time before he could pass the mountains, his company suffered greatly from scarcity of food. In their extremity, the most un- wholesome articles were greedily devoured, and many a cavalier spent his little savings to procure himself a miserable subsistence. Disease, as usual, CH. IX.] FEUDS OF ALMAGRO AND THE PIZARROS. 31 '»• ~ - ' ' trod closely in the track of famine, and numbers of the unfortunate adventurers, sinking under the un- accustomed heats of the climate, perished on the very threshold of discovery. It was the tale often repeated in the history of Spanish enterprise. A few, more lucky than the rest, stumble on some unexpected prize, and hun- dreds, attracted by their success, press forward in the same path. But the rich spoil which lay on the surface has been already swept away by the first comers, and those who follow are to win their treasure by long- protracted and painful exertion. — r- Broken in spirit and in fortune, many returned in disgust to their native shores, while others remained where they were, to die in despair. They thought to dig for gold ; but they dug only their graves. Yet it fared not thus with all Pizarro's company. Many of them, crossing the Isthmus with him to Panama, came in time to Peru, where, in the despe- rate chances of its revolutionary struggles, some few arrived at posts of profit and distinction. Among those who first reached the Peruvian shore was an emissary sent by Almagro's agents to inform him of the important grant made to him by the Crown. The tidings reached him just as he was making his entry into Cuzco, where he was received with all respect by Juan and Gonzalo Pizarro, who, in obe- dience to their brother's commands, instantly re- signed the government of the capital into the mar- shal's hands. But Almagro was greatly elated on rinding himself now placed by his sovereign in a 32 CONQUEST OF PERU. [Boon III. command that made him independent of the man who had so deeply wronged him ; and he intimated that in the exercise of his present authority he ac- knowledged no superior. In this lordly humor he was confirmed by several of his followers, who in- sisted that Cuzco fell to the south of the territory ceded to Pizarro, and consequently came within that now granted to the marshal. Among these follow- ers were several of Alvarado's men, who, though of better condition than the soldiers of Pizarro, were under much worse discipline, and had acquired, in- deed, a spirit of unbridled license under that un- scrupulous chief.26 They now evinced .little concern for the native population of Cuzco ; and, not content with the public edifices, seized on the dwellings of individuals, where it suited their convenience, appro- priating their contents without ceremony, — show- ing as little respect, in short, for person or proper- ty, as if the place had been taken by storm.5 27 96 In point of discipline, they pre- ha via de dentro llenas las casas de sented a remarkable contrast to the mucha ropa i algunas oro i plata i Conquerors of Peru, if we may take otras muchas cosas, i las que no the word of Pedro Pizarro, who as- estaban bien llenas las enchian de sures us that his comrades would lo que tomaban de las demas casas not have plucked so much as an de la dicha ciudad, sin pensar que ear of corn without leave from their en ello hacian ofensa alguna Divina commander. " Que los que pasa- ni humana, i porquesta es una cosa mos con el Marquez a la conquista larga i casi incomprehensible, la no ovo hombre que osase tomar dexase al juicio de quien mas en- vnamazorca de mahiz sin licencia." tiende aunque en el daiio rescebido Descub. yConq., MS. por parte de los naturales cerca 27 " Se entraron de paz en la deste articulo yo se harto por mis ciudad del Cuzco i los salieron pecados que no quisiera saber ni todos los naturales a rescibir i les haver visto." Conq. i Pob. del tomaron la Ciudad con todo quanto Piru, MS. CH. IX.] FEUDS OF ALMAGRO AND THE PIZARROS. 33 While these events were passing in the ancient Peruvian capital, the governor was still at Lima, where he was greatly disturbed by the accounts he received of the new honors conferred on his asso- ciate. He did not know that his own jurisdiction had been extended, seventy leagues further to the south, and he entertained the same suspicion with Almagro, that the capital of the Incas did not right- ly come within his present limits. He saw all the mischief likely to result from this opulent city falling into the hands of his rival, who would thus have an almost indefinite means of gratifying his own cu- pidity, and that of his followers. He felt, that, under the present circumstances, it was not safe to allow Almagro to anticipate the possession of power, to which, as yet, he had no legitimate right ; for the despatches containing the warrant for it still re- mained with Hernando Pizarro, at Panama, and all that had reached Peru was a copy of a garbled extract. Without loss of time, therefore, he sent instruc- tions to Cuzco for his brothers to resume the gov- ernment, while he defended the measure to Alma- gro on the ground, that, when he should hereafter receive his credentials, it would be unbecoming to be found already in possession of the post. He concluded by urging him to go forward without delay in his expedition to the south. But neither the marshal nor his friends were pleased with the idea of so soon relinquishing the authority which they now considered as his right. VOL. II. 5 34 CONQUEST OF PERU. [Boox III. The Pizarros, on the other hand, were pertinacious in reclaiming it. The dispute grew warmer and warmer. Each party had its supporters ; the city was split into factions ; and the municipality, the soldiers, and even the Indian population, took sides in the struggle for power. Matters were proceed- ing to extremity, menacing the capital with violence and bloodshed, when Pizarro himself appeared among them.28 On receiving tidings of the fatal consequences of his mandates, he had posted in all haste to Cuzco, where he was greeted with undisguised joy by the natives, as well as by the more temperate Spaniards, anxious to avert the impending storm. The gov- ernor's first interview was with Almagro, whom he embraced with a seeming cordiality in his manner ; and, without any show of resentment, inquired into the cause of the present disturbances. To this the marshal replied, by throwing the blame on Pizarro's brothers ; but, although the governor reprimanded them with some asperity for their violence, it was soon evident that his sympathies were on their side, and the dangers of a feud between the two asso- ciates seemed greater than ever. Happily, it was postponed by the intervention of some common friends, who showed more discretion than their leaders. With their aid a reconciliation was at length effected, on the grounds substantially of their ancient compact. 38 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y neral, dec. 5, lib. 7, cap. 6. — Conq., MS. — Herrera, Hist. Ge- Conq. i Fob. del Piru, MS. CH. IX.] FEUDS OF ALMAGRO AND THE PIZARROS. 35 It >was agreed that their friendship should be maintained inviolate ; and, by a stipulation that reflects no great credit on the parties, it was pro- vided that neither should malign nor disparage the other, especially in their despatches to the emperor; and that neither should hold communication with the government without the knowledge of his con- federate ; lastly, that both the expenditures and the profits of future discovery should be shared equally by the associates. The wrath of Heaven was in- voked by the most solemn imprecations on the head of whichever should violate this compact, and the Almighty was implored to. visit the offender with loss of property and of. life in this world, and with eternal perdition in that to come ! 29 The parties further bound themselves to the observance of this contract by a solemn oath taken on the sacrament, as it was held in the hands of Father Bartolome de Segovia, who concluded the ceremony by perform- ing mass. The whole proceeding, and the articles of agreement, were carefully recorded by the notary, in an instrument bearing date June 12, 1535, and attested by a long list of witnesses.30 Thus did these two ancient comrades, after 29 " E suplicamos a su infinita pitulacion entre Pizarro y Almagro, bondad que a qualquier de nos que 12 de Junio, 1535, MS. fuere en contrario de lo asi con- 30 This remarkable document, venido, con todo rigor de justicia the original of which is preserved permita la perdicion de su anima, in the archives of Simancas, may fin y mal acavamiento de su vida, be found entire in the Castilian, in destruicion y perdimientos de su Appendix, No. 11. familia, honrras y hacienda." Ca- 36 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BooK III trampling on the ties of friendship and honor, hope to knit themselves to each other by the holy bands of religion. That it should have been necessary to resort to so extraordinary a measure might have furnished them with the best proof of its inefficacy. Not long after this accommodation of their dif- ferences, the marshal raised his standard for Chili ; and numbers, won by his popular manners, and by his liberal largesses, — liberal to prodigality, — ea- gerly joined in the enterprise, which they fondly trusted would lead even to greater riches than they had found in Peru. Two Indians, Paullo Topa, a brother of the Inca Manco, and Villac Umu, the high-priest of the nation, were sent in -advance, with three Spaniards, to prepare the way for the little army. A detachment of a hundred and fifty men, under an officer named Saavedra, next followed. Almagro remained behind to collect further recruits ; but before his levies were completed, he began his march, feeling himself insecure, with his diminished strength, in the neighbourhood of Pizarro ! 31 The remainder of his forces, when mustered, were to follow him. Thus relieved of the presence of his rival, the governor returned without further delay to the coast, to resume his labors in the settlement of the coun- " El Adelantado Almagro hemos dicho, i dicen que por ser despues que se vido en el Cuzco avisado dello tomo la posta i se fue descarnado de su jente temio al al pueblo de Paria donde estava su Marquez no le prendiese por las Capitan Saavedra." Conq. i Pob. alteraeiones pasadas que havia te- del Pirn, MS. nido con sus hermanos como ya > • CH. IX.] FEUDS OF ALMAGRO AND THE PIZARROS. 37 try. Besides the principal city of " The Kings," he established others along the Pacific, destined to become hereafter the flourishing marts of com- merce. The most important of these, in honor of his birthplace, he named Truxillo, planting it on a site already indicated by Almagro.32 He made also numerous repartimientos both of lands and Ind- ians among his followers, in the usual manner of the Spanish Conquerors;33 — though here the ig- norance of the real resources of the country led to very different results from what he had intended, as the territory smallest in extent, not unfrequently, from the hidden treasures in its bosom, turned out greatest in value.34 But nothing claimed so much of Pizarro's care as the rising metropolis of Lima; and, so eagerly did he press forward the work, and so well was he second- ed by the multitude of laborers at his command, that he had the satisfaction to see his young capital, 32 Carta de F. Pizarro a Molina, the Indians, equally disastrous to MS. body and soul of both the master 33 I have before me two copies and the slave." (Conq. i Fob. del of grants of encomiendas by Pi- Piru, MS.) This honest burst of zarro, the one dated at Xauxa, indignation, not to have been ex- 1534, the other at Cuzco, 1539. pected in the rude Conqueror, — They emphatically enjoin on the came probably from an ecclesiastic, colonist the religious instruction of 34 " El Marques hizo encomien- the natives under his care, as well das en los Espanoles, las quales as kind and considerate usage, fueron por noticias que ni el sabia How ineffectual were the recom- lo que dava ni nadie lo que rescebia mendations may be inferred from sino a tiento ya poco mas 6 menos, the lament, of the anonymous con- y asi muchos que pensaron que se temporary often cited, that " from les dava pocos se hallaron con this time forth, the pest of personal mucho y al contrario." Ondegar- servitude was established among do, Rel. Prim., MS. 38 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BooK III. with its stately edifices and its pomp of gardens, rapidly advancing towards completion. It is pleas- ing to contemplate the softer features in the charac- ter of the rude soldier, as he was thus occupied with healing up the ravages of war, and laying broad the foundations of an empire more civilized than that which he had overthrown. This peaceful occupa- tion formed f greater services to the Crown. The new marquess resolved not to forward the commission, at present, to the marshal, whom he designed to engage still deeper in the conquest of Chili, that his attention might be diverted from Cuzco, which, however, his brother assured him, now fell, without doubt, within the newly extended limits of his owrn territory. To make more sure of this important prize, he despatched Hernando to take the government of the capital into his own hands, as the one of his brothers on whose talents and practical experience he placed greatest reliance. Hernando, notwithstanding his arrogant bearing towards his countrymen, had ever manifested a more than ordinary sympathy with the Indians. He had been the friend of Atahuallpa ; to such a degree, indeed, that it was said, if he had been in the camp at the time, the fate of that unhappy monarch would probably have been averted. He now showed a similar friendly disposition towards his successor, Man co. He caused the Peruvian prince to be lib- erated from confinement, and gradually admitted him into some intimacy with himself. The crafty Indian availed himself of his freedom to mature his plans for the rising, but with so much caution, that no suspicion of them crossed the mind of Her- nando. Secrecy and silence are characteristic of CH. X.] RISING OF THE PERUVIANS. 45 the American, almost as invariably as the peculiar color of his skin. Manco disclosed to his conqueror the existence of several heaps of treasure, and the places where they had been secreted ; and, when he had thus won his confidence, he stimulated his cu- pidity still further by an account of a statue of pure gold of his father Huayna Capae, which the wily Peruvian requested leave to bring from a secret cave in which it was deposited, among the neigh- bouring Andes. Hernando, blinded by his avarice, consented to the Inca's departure. He sent with him two Spanish soldiers, less as a guard than to aid him in the object of his expe- dition. A week elapsed, and yet he did not re- turn, nor were there any tidings to be gathered of him. Hernando now saw his error, especially as his own suspicions were confirmed by the unfa- vorable reports of his Indian allies. Without fur- ther delay, he despatched his brother Juan, at the head of sixty horse, in quest of the Peruvian prince, with orders to bring him back once more a prisoner to his capital. That cavalier, with his well-armed troops, soon traversed the environs of Cuzco without discover- ing any vestige of the fugitive. The country was remarkably silent and deserted, until, as he ap- proached the mountain range that hems in the valley of Yucay, about six leagues from the city, he was met by the two Spaniards who had accompa- nied Manco. They informed Pizarro that it was only at the point of the sword he could recover 46 CONQUEST OF PERU. [Boos III. the Inca, for the country was all in arms, and the Peruvian chief at its head was preparing to march on the capital. Yet he had offered no violence to their persons, but had allowed them to return in safety. The Spanish captain found this story fully con firmed when he arrived at the river Yucay, on the opposite bank of which were drawn up the Indian battalions to the number of many thousand men, who, with their young monarch at their head, pre- pared to dispute his passage. It seemed that the'y could not feel their position sufficiently strong, without placing a river, as usual, between them and their enemy. The Spaniards were not checked by this obstacle. The stream, though deep,- was narrow ; and plunging in, they swam their horses boldly across, amidst a tempest of stones and arrows that rattled thick as hail on their harness, finding occasionally some crevice or vulnerable point, — although the wounds thus received only goaded them to more desperate efforts. The barbarians fell back as the cavaliers made good their landing ; but, without allowing the latter time to form, they returned with a spirit which they had hitherto sel- dom displayed, and enveloped them on all sides with their greatly superior numbers. The fight now raged fiercely. Many of the Indians were armed with lances headed with copper tempered almost to the hardness of steel, and with huge maces and battle-axes of the same metal. Their defensive armour, also, was in many respects excel- CH. X.] RISING OF THE PERUVIANS. 47 lent, consisting of stout doublets of quilted cot- ton, shields covered with skins, and casques richly ornamented with gold and jewels, or sometimes made like those of the Mexicans, in the fantastic shape of the heads of wild animals, garnished with rows of teeth that grinned horribly above the vis- age of the warrior.4 The whole army wore an as- pect of martial ferocity, under the control of much higher military discipline than the Spaniards had before seen in the country. The little band of cavaliers, shaken by the fury of the Indian assault, were thrown at first into some disorder, but at length, cheering on one an- other with the old war-cry of " St. Jago," they formed in solid column, and charged boldly into the thick of the enemy. The latter, incapable of withstanding the shock, gave way, or were trampled down under the feet of the horses, or pierced by the lances of the riders. Yet their flight was con- ducted with some order ; and they turned at in- tervals, to let off a volley of arrows, or to deal furious blows with their pole-axes and war-clubs. They fought as if conscious that they were under the eye of their Inca. 4 " Es gente," says Oviedo, ther Velasco has added consider- " muy belicosa e muy diestra ; sus ably to this catalogue. According armas son picas, e ondas, porras e to him they used copper swords, Alabardas de Plata e oro e cobre." poniards, and other European weap- (Hist. de las Indias, MS., Parte 3, ons. (Hist, de Quito, torn. I. pp. lib. 8, cap. 17.) Xerez has made 178-180.) He does not insist on a good enumeration of the native their knowledge' of fire-arms be- Peruvian arms. (Conq. del Peru, fore the Conquest! ap. Barcia, torn. III. p. 200.) Fa- J 48 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BOOK III. It was evening before they had entirely quitted the level ground, and withdrawn into the fastnesses of the lofty range of hills which belt round the beautiful valley of Yucay. Juan Pizarro and his little troop encamped on the level at the base of the mountains. He had gained a victory, as usual, over immense odds ; but he had never seen a field so well disputed, and his victory had cost him the lives of several men and horses, while many more had been wounded, and were nearly disabled by the fatigues of the day. But he trusted the severe lesson he had inflicted on the enemy, whose slaugh- ter was great, would crush the spirit of resistance. He was deceived. The following morning, great was his dismay to see the passes of the mountains filled up with dark lines of warriors, stretching as far as the eye could penetrate into the depths of the sierra, while dense masses of the enemy were gathered like thunder- clouds along the slopes and summits, as if ready to pour down in fury on the assailants. The ground, altogether unfavorable to the manoeuvres of cavalry, gave every advantage to the Peruvians, who rolled down huge rocks from their elevated position, and sent off incessant showers of missiles on the heads of the Spaniards. Juan Pizarro did not care to entangle himself further in the perilous defile ; and, though he repeatedly charged the enemy, and drove them back with considerable loss, the second night found him with men and horses wearied and wound- ed, and as little advanced in the object of his ex- CH. X.] SIEGE AND BURNING OF CUZCO. 49 pedition as on the preceding evening. From this embarrassing position, after a day or two more spent in unprofitable hostilities, he was surprised by a summons from his brother to return with all expedition to Cuzco, which was now besieged by the enemy ! Without delay, he began his retreat, recrossed the valley, the recent scene of slaughter, swam the river Yucay, and, by a rapid countermarch, closely followed by the victorious enemy, who celebrated their success with songs or rather yells of triumph, he arrived before nightfall in sight of the capital. But very different was the sight which there met his eye from what he had beheld on leaving it a few days before. The extensive environs, as far as the eye could reach, were occupied by a mighty host, which an indefinite computation swelled to the number of two hundred thousand warriors.5 The dusky lines of the Indian battalions stretched out to the very verge of the mountains ; while, all around, the eye sawT only the crests and waving banners of chieftains, mingled with rich panoplies of feather- work, which reminded some few who had served under Cortes of the military costume of the Aztecs. Above all rose a forest of long lances and battle- axes edged with copper, which, tossed to and fro in wild confusion, glittered in the rays of the setting 5 " Pues junta toda la gente indios de guerra los que vinieron quel ynga avia embiado a juntar a poner este cerco." Pedro Pi- que a lo que se entendio y los in- zarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. dios dixeron fueron dozientos mil VOL. II. 7 50 CONQUEST OF PERU. [Boox III. sun, like light playing on the surface of a dark and troubled ocean. It was the first time that the Spaniards had beheld an Indian army in all its ter- rors ; such an army as the Incas led to battle, when the banner of the Sun was borne triumphant over the land. Yet the bold hearts of the cavaliers, if for a mo- ment dismayed by the sight, soon gathered courage as they closed up their files, and 'prepared to open a way for themselves through the beleaguering host. But the enemy seemed to shun the encounter ; and, falling back at their approach, left a free entrance into the capital. The Peruvians were, probably, not unwilling to draw as many victims as they could into the toils, conscious that, the greater the num- ber, the sooner they would become sensible to the approaches of famine.6 Hernando Pizarro greeted his brother with no little satisfaction ; for he brought an important ad- dition to his force, which now, when all were united, did not exceed two hundred, horse and foot,7 be- sides a thousand Indian auxiliaries ; an insignificant number, in comparison with the countless multitudes that were swarming at the gates. That night was passed by the Spaniards with feelings of the deepest anxiety, as they looked forward with natural appre- 6 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y 7 " Y los pocos Espafioles qui Conq., MS. — Conq. i Pob. del heramos aim no dozientos todos.' Piru, MS. — Herrera, Hist. Ge- Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., neral, dec. 5, lib. 8, cap. 4. — MS. Gomara, Hist. delaslnd.,cap. 133. On. X.] SIEGE AND BURNING OF CUZCO. 51 hension to the morrow. It was early in February, 1536. when the siege of Cuzco commenced; a siege memorable as calling out the most heroic dis- plays of Indian and European valor, and bringing the two races in deadlier conflict with each other than had yet occurred in the conquest of Peru. The numbers of the enemy seemed no less for- midable during the night than by the light of day ; far and wide their watch-fires were to be seen gleaming over valley and hill-top, as thickly scat- tered, says an eyewitness, as " the stars of heaven in a cloudless summer night." s Before these fires had become pale in the light of the morning, the Spaniards were roused by the hideous clamor of conch, trumpet, and atabal, mingled with the fierce war-cries of the barbarians, as they let off volleys of missiles of every description, most of which fell harmless within the city. But others did more se- rious execution. These were burning arrows, and red-hot stones wrapped in cotton that had been steeped in some bituminous substance, which, scat- tering long trains of light through the air, fell on the roofs of the buildings, and speedily set them on fire.9 These roofs, even of the better sort of edifices, 8 " Pues de noche heran tantos dones y poniendolas en hondas las los fuegos que no parecia sino vn tiravan a las cassas donde no al- cielo muy sereno lleno deestrellas." canzavan a poner fuego con las Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., manos, y ansi nos quemavan las MS. cassas sin entendello. Otras veces 9 " Unas piedras rredondas y con flechas encendidas tirandolas a hechallas en el fuego y hazellas las casas que como heran de paja asqua embolvianlas en vnos algo- luego se encendian." Ibid., MS. 52 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BOOK III. were uniformly of thatch, and were ignited as easily as tinder. In a moment the flames burst forth from the most opposite quarters of the city. They quickly communicated to the wood-work in the interior of the buildings, and broad sheets of flame mingled with smoke rose up towards the heavens, throwing a fearful glare over every object. The rarefied atmosphere heightened the previous impetuosity of the wind, which, fanning the rising flames, they rapidly spread from dwelling to dwell- ing, till the whole fiery mass, swayed to and fro by the tempest, surged and roared with the fury of a volcano. The heat became intense, and clouds of smoke, gathering like a dark pall over the city, pro- duced a sense of suffocation and almost blindness in those quarters where it was driven by the winds.10 The Spaniards were encamped in the great square, partly under awnings, and partly in the hall of the Inca Viracocha, on the ground since covered by the cathedral. Three times in the course of that dreadful day, the roof of the building was on fire ; but, although no efforts were made to extinguish it, the flames went out without doing much injury. This miracle was ascribed to the Blessed Virgin, who was distinctly seen by several '/' . -' ;. - 10 " I era tanto el humo que casi todas partes les diera el humo i el los oviera de aogar i pasaron grand calor siendo tan grande pasaron travajo por esta causa i sine fuera travajo, pero la divina providencia porque de la una parte de la plaza lo estorvo." Conq. i Fob. del no havia casas i estava desconorado Piru, MS. no pudieran escapar porque si por CH. X.] SIEGE AND BURNING OF CUZCO. 53 of the Christian combatants, hovering over the spot on which was to be raised the temple dedicated to her worship.11 Fortunately, the open space around Hernando's little company separated them from the immediate scene of conflagration. It afforded a means of pres- ervation similar to that employed by the American hunter, who endeavours to surround himself with a belt of wasted land, when overtaken by a conflagra- tion in the prairies. All day the fire continued to rage, and at night the effect was even more appall- ing; for by the lurid flames the unfortunate Span- iards could read the consternation depicted in each others' ghastly countenances, while in the suburbs, along the slopes of the surrounding hills, might be seen the throng of besiegers, gazing with fiendish exultation on the work of destruction. High above the town to the north, rose the gray fortress, which now showed ruddy in the glare, looking grimly down on the ruins of the fair city which it was no longer able to protect ; and in the distance were to be discerned the shadowy forms of the An- "• The temple was dedicated to event, (lib. 7, cap. 27.) Both Our Blessed Lady of the Assump- writers testify to the seasonable tion. The apparition of the Vir- aid rendered by St. James, who gin was manifest not only to Chris- with his buckler, displaying the iian but to Indian warriors, many device of his Military Order, and v)f whom reported it to Garci lasso armed with his flaming sword, rode de la Vega, in whose hands the his white charger into the thick of marvellous rarely loses any of its the enemy. The patron Saint of gloss. (Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. Spain might always be relied on 2, cap. 25.) It is further attested when his presence was needed; by Father Acosta, who came into dignus vindice nodus. khe country forty years after the 54 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BOOK III. des, soaring up in solitary grandeur into the regions of eternal silence, far beyond the wild tumult that raged so fearfully at their base. Such was the extent of the city, that it was sev- eral days before the fury of the fire was spent. Tower and temple, hut, palace, and hall, went down before it. Fortunately, among the buildings that escaped were the magnificent House of the Sun and the neighbouring Convent of the Virgins. Their insulated position afforded the means, of which the Indians from motives of piety were willing to avail themselves, for their preservation.12 Full one half of the capital, so long the chosen seat of Western 12 Garcilasso, Com. Real.,Parte 2, lib. 2, cap. 24". Father Valverde, Bishop of Cuz- co, who took so signal a part in the seizure of Atahuallpa, was ab- sent from the country at this period, but returned the following1 year. In a letter to the emperor, he contrasts the flourishing condition of the capital when he left it, and that in which he now found it, despoiled, as well as its beautiful suburbs, of its ancient glories. " If I had not known the site of the city," he says, " I should not have recognized it as the same." The passage is too remarkable to be omitted. The original letter exists in the archives of Simancas. — " Certifico a V. M. que si no me acordara del sitio desta Ciudad yo no la conosciera, a lo merios por los edificios y Pueblos della; porque quando el Gobernador D. Franzisco Pizarro entro aqui y entre yo con el estava este valle tan hermoso en edificios y poblazion que en torno tenia que era cosa de admiracion vello, porque aunque la Ciudad en si no ternia mas de 3 o 4000 casas, ternia en torno quasi a vista 19 o 20,000; la fortaleza que estava sobre la Ciudad parescia desde a parte una mui gran fortaleza de las de Espana : agora la mayor parte de la Ciudad esta toda derivada y quemada ; la fortaleza no tiene quasi nada enhiesso ; todos los pueblos de alderredor no tiene sino las paredes que por maravilla ai casa cubierta ! La cosa que mas contentamiento me dio en esta Ciudad fue la Iglesia, que para en Indias es harto buena cosa, aunque segun la riqueza a havido en esta tierra pudiera ser mas semejante al Templo de Salo- mon." Carta del Obispo F. Vi- cente de Valverde al Emperador, MS., 20deMarzo, 1539. CH. X.] DISTRESSES OF THE SPANIARDS. 55 • civilization, the pride of the Incas, and the bright abode of their tutelar deity, was laid in ashes by the hands of his own children. It was some consola- tion for them to reflect, that it burned over the heads of its conquerors, — their trophy and their tomb! During the long period of the conflagration, the Spaniards made no attempt to extinguish the flames. Such an attempt would have availed noth- ing. Yet they did not tamely submit to the as- saults of the enemy, and they sallied forth from time to time to repel them. But the fallen timbers and scattered rubbish of the houses presented serious impediments to the movements of horse ; and, when these were partially cleared away by the efforts of the infantry and the Indian allies, the Peruvians planted stakes and threw barricades across the path, which proved equally embarrassing.13 To remove them was a work of time and no little danger, as the pioneers were exposed to the whole brunt of the enemy's archery, and the aim of the Peruvian was sure. When at length the obstacles were cleared away, and a free course was opened to the cavalry, they rushed with irresistible impetuosity on their foes, who, falling back in confusion, were cut to pieces by the riders, or pierced through with their lances. The slaughter on these occasions was 13 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y nando la calle hivan haciendo una Conq., MS. pared para que los cavallos ni los " Los Indies ganaron el Cuzco Espafloles no los pudiesen rom- casi todo desta manera que enga- per." Conq. i Pob. del Pirn, MS. 56 CONQUEST OF PERU. [Boox III great ; but the Indians, nothing disheartened, usu- ally returned with renewed courage to the attack, and, while fresh reinforcements met the Spaniards in front, others, lying in ambush among the ruins, threw the troops into disorder by assailing them on the flanks. The Peruvians were expert both with bow and sling ; and these encounters, notwithstand- ing the superiority of their arms, cost the Spaniards more lives than in their crippled condition they could afford to spare, — a loss poorly compensated by that of tenfold the number of the enemy. One weapon, peculiar to South American warfare, was used with some effect by the Peruvians. This was the lasso, — a long rope with a noose at the end, which they adroitly threw over the rider, or entan- gled with it the legs of his horse, so as to bring them both to the ground. More than one Span- iard fell into the hands of the enemy by this ex- pedient.14 Thus harassed, sleeping on their arms, with their horses picketed by their side, ready for action at any and every hour, the Spaniards had no rest by night or by day. To add to their troubles, the for- tress which overlooked the city, and completely commanded the great square in which they were quartered, had been so feebly garrisoned in their false sense of security, that, on the approach of the Peruvians, it had been abandoned without a blow in its defence. It was now occupied by a strong body of the enemy, who, from his elevated position, 14 Ibid., MS. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 8, cap. 4. CH. X.] DISTRESSES OF THE SPANIARDS. 57 sent down showers of missiles, from time to time, which added greatly to the annoyance of the be- sieged. Bitterly did their captain now repent the improvident security which had led him to neglect a post so important. Their distresses were still further aggravated by the rumors, which continually reached their ears, of the state of the country. The rising, it was said, was general throughout the land ; the Spaniards liv- ing on their insulated plantations had all been mas- sacred ; Lima and Truxillo and the principal cities were besieged, and must soon fall into the enemy's hands ; the Peruvians were in possession of the passes, and all communications were cut off, so that no relief was to be expected from their countrymen on the coast. Such were the dismal stories, (which, however exaggerated, had too much foundation in fact,) that now found their way into the city from the camp of the besiegers. And to give greater credit to the rumors, eight or ten human heads were rolled into the plaza, in whose blood-stained visages the Spaniards recognized with horror the linea- ments of their companions, who they knew had been dwelling in solitude on their estates ! 15 Overcome by these horrors, many were for aban- doning the place at once, as no longer tenable, and for opening a passage for themselves to the coast with their own good swords. There was a daring in the enterprise which had a charm for the adven- 15 Ibid., ubi supra. — Conq. i Fob, del Piru, MS. VOL. II. 8 58 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BooK III. turous spirit of the Castilian. Better, they said, to perish in a manly struggle for life, than to die thus ignominiously, pent up like foxes in their holes, to be suffocated by the hunter ! But the Pizarros, De Rojas, and some other of the principal cavaliers, refused to acquiesce in a measure which, they said, must cover them with dishonor.16 Cuzco had been the great prize for which they had contended ; it was the ancient seat of empire, and, though now in ashes, would again rise from its ruins as glorious as before. All eyes would be turned on them, as its defenders, and their failure, by giving confidence to the enemy, might decide the fate of their countrymen through- out the land. They were placed in that post as the post of honor, and better would it be to die there than to desert it. There seemed, indeed, no alternative ; for every avenue to escape was cut off by an enemy who had perfect knowledge of the country, and possession of all its passes. But this state of things could not last long. The Indian could not, in the long run, contend with the white man. The spirit of insur- rection would die out of itself. Their great army would melt away, unaccustomed as the natives were to the privations incident to a protracted campaign. 16 « pues Hernando Pi§arro Pi$arro y sus hermanos, Graviel mmca estuvo en ello y les respon- de Rojas, Hernan Ponce de Leon, dia que todos aviamos de morir jr el Thesorero Riquelme." Pedro no desamparar el cuzco. Junta- Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. vanse a estas consultas Hernando CH. X.] DISTRESSES OF THE SPANIARDS. 59 Reinforcements would be daily coming in from the colonies ; and, if the Castilians would be but true to themselves for a season, they would be relieved by their own countrymen, who would never suffer them to die like outcasts among the mountains. The cheering words and courageous bearing of the cavaliers went to the* hearts of their followers ; for the soul of the Spaniard readily responded to the call of honor, if not of humanity. All now agreed to stand by their leader to the last. But, if they would remain longer in their present posi- tion, it was absolutely necessary to dislodge the enemy from the fortress ; and, before venturing on this dangerous service, Hernando Pizarro resolved to strike such a blow as should intimidate the be- siegers from further attempt to molest his present quarters. He communicated his plan of attack to his offi- cers ; and, forming his little troop into three divis- ions, he placed them under command of his brother Gonzalo, of Gabriel de Rojas, an officer in whom he reposed great confidence, and Hernan Ponce de Leon. The Indian pioneers were sent forward to clear away the rubbish, and the several divisions moved simultaneously up the principal avenues to- wards the camp of the besiegers. Such stragglers as they met in their way were easily cut to pieces, and the three bodies, bursting impetuously on the disordered lines of the Peruvians, took them com- pletely by surprise. For some moments there was little resistance, and the slaughter was terrible 60 CONQUEST OF PERU. [Boo* III. But the Indians gradually rallied, and, coming into something like order, returned to the fight with the courage of men who had long been familiar with danger. They fought hand to hand with their copper-headed war-clubs arid pole-axes, while a storm of darts, stones, and arrows rained on the well-defended bodies of the Christians. ».'• The barbarians showed more discipline than was to have been expected ; for which, it is said, they were indebted to some Spanish prisoners, from several of whom, the Inca, having generously spared their lives, took occasional lessons in the art of war. The Peruvians had, also, learned to manage with some degree of skill the weapons of their conquer- ors ; and they were seen armed with bucklers, hel- mets, and swords of European workmanship, and even, in a few instances, mounted on the horses which they had taken from the white men.17 The young Inca, in particular, accoutred in the European fashion, rode a war-horse which he managed with considerable address, and, with a long lance in his hand, led on his followers to the attack. — This readiness to adopt the superior arms and tactics of the Conquerors intimates a higher civilization than that which belonged to the Aztec, who, in his long collision with the Spaniards, was never so far di- vested of his terrors for the horse as to venture to mount him. 17 Herrera assures us, that the the muskets in order, and manufac- Peruvians even turned the fire-arms ture powder for them. Hist. Ge- of their Conquerors against them, neral, dec. 5, lib. 8, cap. 5, 6. compelling their prisoners to put CH. X.] STORMING OF THE FORTRESS. 61 But a few days or weeks of training were not enough to give familiarity with weapons, still less with tactics, so unlike those to which the Peruvians had been hitherto accustomed. The fight, on the present occasion, though hotly contested, was not of long duration. After a gallant struggle, in which the natives threw themselves fearlessly on the horse- men, endeavouring to tear them from their saddles, they were obliged to give way before the repeated shock of their charges. Many were trampled under foot, others cut down by the Spanish broadswords, while the arquebusiers, supporting the cavalry, kept up a running fire that did terrible execution on the flanks and rear of the fugitives. At length, sated with slaughter, and trusting that the chastisement he had inflicted on the enemy would secure him from further annoyance for the present, the Cas- tilian general drew back his forces to their quarters in the capital.18 His next step was the recovery of the citadel. It was an enterprise of danger. The fortress, which overlooked the northern section of the city, stood high on a rocky eminence, so steep as to be inaccessible on this quarter, where it was defended only by a single wall. Towards the open coun- try, it was more easy of approach ; but there it was protected by two semicircular walls, each about twelve hundred feet in length, and of great thick- j ness. They were built of massive stones, or rather 18 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Piru, MS. — Herrera, Hist. Ge- Conq., MS. — Conq. i Pob. del neral,.dec. 5, lib. 8, cap. 4, 5. 62 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BooK III. rocks, put together without cement, so as to form a kind of rustic-work. The level of the ground be- tween these lines of defence was raised up so as to enable the garrison to discharge its arrows at the assailants, while their own persons were protected by the parapet. Within the interior wall was the fortress, consisting of three strong towers, one of great height, which, with a smaller one, was now held by the enemy, under the command of an Inca noble, a warrior of well-tried valor, prepared to de- fend it to the last extremity. The perilous enterprise was intrusted by Hernan- do Pizarro to his brother Juan, a cavalier in whose bosom burned the adventurous spirit of a knight- errant of romance. As the fortress was to be ap- proached through the mountain passes, it became necessary to divert the enemy's attention to another quarter. A little while before sunset Juan Pizarro left the city with a picked corps of horsemen, and took a direction opposite to that of the fortress, that the besieging army rnight suppose the object was a foraging expedition. But secretly countermarching in the night, he fortunately. found the passes unpro- tected, and arrived before the outer wall of the for- tress, without giving the alarm to the garrison.19 The entrance was through a narrow opening in the centre of the rampart ; but this was now closed up with heavy stones, that seemed to form one solid work with the rest of the masonry. It was an affair of time to dislodge these huge masses, in such a 19 Conq. i Fob. del Pirn, MS. CH. X.] STORMING OF THE FORTRESS. 63 manner as not to rouse the garrison. The Indian nations, who rarely attacked in the night, were not sufficiently acquainted with the art of war even to provide against surprise by posting sentinels. When the task was accomplished, Juan Pizarro and his gallant troop rode through the gateway, and ad- vanced towards the second parapet. But their movements had not been conducted so secretly as to escape notice, and they now found the interior court swarming with warriors, who, as the Spaniards drew near, let off clouds of missiles that compelled them to come to a halt. Juan Pi- zarro, aware that no time was to be lost, ordered one half of his corps to dismount, and, putting him- self at their head, prepared to make a breach as before in the fortifications. He had been wounded some days previously in the jaw, so that, finding his helmet caused him pain, he rashly dispensed with it, and trusted for protection to his buckler.20 Lead- ing on his men, he encouraged them in the work of demolition, in the face of such a storm of stones, javelins, and arrows, as might have made the stout- est heart shrink from encountering it. The good mail of the Spaniards did not always protect them ; but others took the place of such as fell, until a breach was made, and the cavalry, pouring in, rode down all who opposed them. The parapet was now abandoned, and the enemy, hurrying with disorderly flight across the inclosure, 20 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS 64 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BOOK III. rook refuge on a kind of platform or terrace, com- manded by the principal tower. Here rallying, they shot off fresh volleys of missiles against the Spaniards, while the garrison in the fortress hurled down fragments of rock and timber on their heads. Juan Pizarro, still among the foremost, sprang for- ward on the terrace, cheering on his men by his voice and example ; but at this moment he was struck by a large stone on the head, not then pro- tected 'by his buckler, and was stretched on the ground. The dauntless chief still continued to ani- mate his followers by his voice, till the terrace was carried, and its miserable defenders were put to the sword. His sufferings were then too much for him, and he was removed to the town below, where, notwithstanding every exertion to save him, he survived the injury but a fortnight, and died in great agony.21 — To say that he was a Pizarro is enough to attest his claim to valor. But it is his praise, that his valor was tempered by courtesy. His own nature appeared mild by contrast with the haughty temper of his brothers, and his man- ners made him a favorite of the army. He had served in the conquest of Peru from the first, and no name on the roll of its conquerors is less tar- 21 " Y estando batallando con quince dias murio desta herida y ellos para echallos de alii Joan ansi herido estuvo forcejando con Pi$arro se descuido descubrirse la los yndios y espanoles hasta que cabe§a con la adarga y con las se gano este terrado y ganado le much as pedradas que tiravan le abaxaron al Cuzco." Pedro Pi- acertaron vna en la cavega que le zarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. quebraron los cascos y dende & CH. X.] STORMING OF THE FORTRESS. 65 nished bj the reproach of cruelty, or stands higher in all the attributes of a true and valiant knight.22 Though deeply sensible to his brother's disaster, Hernando Pizarro saw that no time was to be lost in profiting by the advantages already gained. Com- mitting the charge of the town to Gonzalo, he put himself at the head of the assailants, and laid vigor- ous siege to the fortresses. One surrendered after a short resistance. The other and more formidable of the two still held out under the brave Inca noble who commanded it. He was a man of an athletic frame, and might be seen striding along the battle- ments, armed with a Spanish buckler and cuirass, and in his hand wielding a formidable mace, gar- nished with points or knobs of copper. With this terrible weapon he struck down all who attempted to force a passage into the fortress. Some of his own followers who proposed a surrender he is said to have slain with his own hand. Hernando pre- pared to carry the place by escalade. Ladders were planted against the walls, but no sooner did a Span- iard gain the topmost round, than he was hurled to tjie ground by the strong arm of the Indian warrior. His activity was equal to his strength; and he seemed to be at every point the moment that his presence was needed. 22 " Hera valiente," says Pedro Tierra, porque era Juan Pi£arro Pizarro, " y muy animoso, gentil mui valiente, i experimentado en hombre, magnanimo y afable." las Guerras de los Indios, i biea (Descub. y Conq., MS.) Zarate quisto, i amado detodos." Conq. dismisses him with this brief pane- del Peru, lib. 3, cap. 3. gyric : — " Fue gran perdida en la VOL. II. 9 66 CONQUEST OF PERU. [Boo* III, The Spanish commander was filled with admira- tion at this display of valor ; for he could admire valor even in an enemy. He gave orders that the chief should not be injured, but be taken alive, if possible.23 This was not easy. At length, numer- ous ladders having been planted against the tower, <-, the Spaniards scaled it on several quarters at the same time, and, leaping into the place, 'overpowered the few combatants who still made a show of re- sistance. But the Inca chieftain was not to be taken ; and, finding further resistance ineffectual, he sprang to the edge of the battlements, and, casting away his war-club, wrapped his mantle around him and threw himself headlong from the summit.24 He died like an ancient Roman. He had struck his last stroke for the freedom of his country, and he scorned to survive her dishonor. — The Castilian commander left a small force in garrison to secure his conquest, and returned in triumph to his quarters. Week after week rolled away, and no relief came to the beleaguered Spaniards. They had long since begun to feel the approaches of famine. Fortunate- ly, they were provided with water from the streams which flowed through the city. But, though they 23 «Y mando hernando pi§arro le avian tornado por dos 6 tres a los Espanoles que subian que no partes el fuerte, arrojando las armas matasen a este yndio sino que se se tapo la caveca y el rrostro con lo tomasen a vida, jurando de no la manta y se arrojo del cubo abajo matalle si lo avia bivo.'.' Pedro mas de cien estados, y ansi se hizo Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. pedazos. A hernando Picarro le 24 " Visto este orejon que se lo peso mucho por no tomalle a vida." avian ganado y le avian ganado y Ibid., MS. CH.X.] PIZARRO'S DISMAY. 67 had well husbanded their resources, their provisions were exhausted, and they had for some time de- pended on such scanty supplies of grain as they could gather from the ruined magazines and dwell- ings, mostly consumed by the fire, or from the produce of some successful foray.25 This latter re- source was attended with no little difficulty; for every expedition led to a fierce encounter with the enemy, which usually cost the lives of several Span- iards, and inflicted a much heavier injury on the Indian allies. Yet it was at least one good result of such loss, that it left fewer to provide for. But the whole number of the besieged was so small, that any loss greatly increased the difficulties of defence by the remainder. As months passed away without bringing any tidings of their countrymen, their minds were haunt- ed with still gloomier apprehensions as to their fate. They well knew that the governor would make every effort to rescue them from their desperate condition. That he had not -succeeded in this made it probable, that his own situation was no better than theirs, or, perhaps, he and his followers had already fallen victims to the fury of the insurgents. It was a dismal thought, that they alone were left in the land, far from all human succour, to perish miserably by the hands of the barbarians among the mountains. Yet the actual state of things, though gloomy in 25 Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 2, cap. 24. 68 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BOOK III the extreme, ,was not quite so desperate as their im- aginations had painted it. The insurrection, it is true, had been general throughout the country, at least that portion of it occupied by the Spaniards. It had been so well concerted, that it broke out almost simultaneously, and the Conquerors, who were living in careless security on their estates, had been massacred to the number of several hundreds. An Indian force had sat down before Xauxa, and a considerable army had occupied the valley of Rimac and laid siege to Lima. But the country around that capital was of an open, level character, very favorable to the action of cavalry. Pizarro no soon- er saw himself menaced by the hostile array, than he sent such a force against the Peruvians as speed- ily put them to flight ; and, following up his advan- tage, he inflicted on them such a severe chastise- ment, that, although they still continued to hover in the distance 'and cut off his communications with the interior, they did not care to trust themselves on the other side of the Rimac. The accounts that the Spanish commander now received of the state of the country filled him with the most serious alarm. He was particularly so- licitous for the fate of the garrison at Cuzco, and he made repeated efforts to relieve that capital. . Four several detachments, amounting to more than four hundred men in all, half of them cavalry, were sent by him at different times, under some of his bravest officers. But none of them reached their place of destination. The wily natives permitted CH. X.] PIZARRO'S DISMAY. 69 them to march into the interior of the country, until they were fairly entangled in the passes of the Cor- dilleras. They then enveloped them with greatly superior numbers, and, occupying the heights, showr- ered down their fatal missiles on the heads of the Spaniards, or crushed them under the weight of fragments of rock which they rolled on them from the mountains. In some instances, the whole de- tachment was cut off to a man. In others, a few stragglers only survived to return and tell the bloody tale to their countrymen at Lima.26 Pizarro was now filled with consternation. He had the most dismal forebodings of the fate of the Spaniards dispersed throughout the country, and even doubted the possibility of maintaining his own foothold in it without assistance from abroad. He despatched a vessel to the neighbouring colony at Truxillo, urging them to abandon the place, with all their effects, and to repair to him at Lima. The measure was, fortunately, not adopted. Many of his men were for availing themselves of the vessels which rode at anchor in the port to make l their es- cape from the country at once, and take refuge in 26 Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. putes the whole number of Chris- 4, cap. 5. — Herrera, Hist. Ge- tians who perished , in this insur- neral, dec. 5, lib. 8, cap 5. — rection at seven hundred, many of Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, them, he adds, under circumstances lib. 2, cap. 28. of great cruelty. (Cronica, cap. According- to the historian of the 82.) _The estimate, considering Incas, there fell in these expedi- the spread and spirit of the insur- tions four hundred and seventy rection, does not seem extravagant. Spaniards. Cieza de Leon com- * 70 CONQUEST OF P£RU. [BOOK III. Panama. Pizarro would not hearken to so dastard- ly a counsel, which involved the desertion of the brave men in the interior who still looked to him for protection. He cut off the hopes of these timid spirits by despatching all the vessels then in port on a very different mission. He sent letters by them to the governors of Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico, representing the gloomy state of his affairs, and invoking their aid. His epistle to Al- varado, then established at Guatemala, is preserved. He conjures him by every sentiment of honor and patriotism to come to his assistance, and this before it was too late. Without assistance, the Spaniards could no longer maintain their footing in Peru, and that great empire would be lost to the Castilian Crown. He finally engages to share .with him such conquests as they may make with their united arms.27 — Such concessions, to the very man whose absence from the country, but a few months before, Pizarro would have been willing to secure at al- most any price, are sufficient evidence of the extrem- ity of his distress. The succours /thus earnestly so- licited arrived in time, not to quell the Indian insur- rection, but to aid him in a struggle quite as formi- dable with his own countrymen. It was now August. More than five months had 27 " E crea V. Sa sino somos mos pocas armas, e los Indies socorridos se perderar el Cusco, estan atrevidos." Carta de Fran- ques la cosa mas senalada e de cisco Pizarro a D. Pedro de Alva- mas importancia que se puede de- rado, desde la Ciudad le los Reyes, scubrir, e luego nos perderemos 29 de Julio, 1536, MS. todos ; porque somos pocos 6 tene- CH. X.] THE INCA RAISES THE SIEGE. 71 elapsed since the commencement of the siege of Cuzco, yet the Peruvian, legions still lay encamped around the city. The siege had been protracted much beyond what was usual in Indian warfare, and showed the resolution of the natives to exter- minate the white men. But the Peruvians them- selves had for some time been straitened by the want of provisions. It was no easy matter to feed so numerous a host ; and the obvious resource of the magazines of grain, so providently prepared by the Incas, did them but little service, since their contents had been most prodigally used, and even dissipated, by the Spaniards, on their first occupa- tion of the country.28 The season for planting had now arrived, and the Inca well knew, that, if his followers were to neglect it, they would be visited by a scourge even more formidable than their in- vaders. Disbanding the greater part of his forces, therefore, he ordered them to withdraw to their homes, and, after the labors of the field were over, to return and resume the blockade of the capital. The Inca reserved a considerable force to attend on his own person, with which he retired to Tambo, a strongly fortified place south of the valley of Yucay, the favorite residence of his ancestors. He also posted a large body as a corps of observation in the environs of Cuzco, to watch the movements of the enemy, and to intercept supplies. The Spaniards beheld with joy the mighty host, 28 Qndegardo, Rel. Prim, y Seg., MS. . ' 72 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BOOK III. which had so long encompassed the city, now melt- ing away. They were not slow in profiting by the circumstance, and Hernando Pizarro took advantage of the temporary absence to send out foraging par- ties to scour the country, and bring back supplies to his famishing soldiers. In this he was so successful that on one occasion no less than two thousand head of cattle — the Peruvian sheep — were swept away from the Indian plantations and brought safely to Cuzco.29 This placed the army above all appre- hensions on the score of want for the present. Yet these forays were made at the point of the lance, and many a desperate contest ensued, in which the best blood of the Spanish chivalry was shed. The contests, indeed, were not confined to large bodies of troops, but skirmishes took place between smaller parties, which sometimes took the form of personal combats. Nor were the parties so unequally matched as might have been supposed in these single rencontres; and the Peruvian warrior, with his sling, his bow, and his lasso, proved no con- temptible antagonist for the mailed horseman, whom he sometimes even ventured to encounter, hand to hand, with his formidable battle-axe. The ground around Cuzco became a battle-field, like the vega of Granada, in which Christian and Pagan displayed the characteristics of their peculiar warfare ; and many a deed of heroism was performed, which wanted only the song of the minstrel to shed around 29 " Recoximos hasta dos mil eavezas de ganado." Pedro Pizarro, Descub. yConq., MS. CH. X.] THE INCA RAISES THE SIEGE. 73 it a glory like that which rested on the last days of the Moslem of Spain.30 Bat Hernando Pizarro was not content to act wholly on the defensive ; and he meditated a bold stroke, by which at once to put an end to the war. This was the capture of the Inca Manco, whom he hoped to surprise in his quarters at Tambo. For this service he selected about eighty of his best-mounted cavalry, with a small body of foot ; and, making a large detour through the less fre- quented mountain defiles, he arrived before Tambo without alarm to the enemy. He found the place more strongly fortified than he had imagined. The palace, or rather fortress, of the Incas stood on a lofty eminence, the steep sides of which, on the quarter where the Spaniards approached, were cut into terraces, defended by strong walls of stone and sunburnt brick.31 The place was impreg- nable on this side. On the opposite, it looked towards the Yucay, and the ground descended by a gradual declivity towards the plain through which K;iJ .'VJf^ ^' '••'"' &;-'*';' • - ' .•%• 30 Pedro Pizarro recounts several MS.) Such atrocities are not of these deeds of arms, in some of often noticed by the chroniclers ; which his own prowess is made and we may hope they were ex- quite apparent. One piece of ceptions to the general policy of cruelty recorded by him is little to the Conquerors in this invasion, the credit of his commander, Her- 3l " Tambo tan fortalescido.que nando Pizarro, who, he says, after hera cosa de grhna, porquel assien- a desperate rencontre, caused the to donde Tambo esta es muy fuerte, right hands of his prisoners to be de andenes muy altos y de muy struck off, and sent them in this gran canterias fortalescidos." Pe- mutilated condition back to their dro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq.. countrymen! (Descub. y Conq., MS. VOL. II. 10 74 CONQUEST OF PERU. [BOOK III. rolled its deep but narrow current.32 This was the quarter on which to make the assault. Crossing the stream without much difficulty, the Spanish commander advanced up the smooth glacis with as little noise as possible. The morning light had hardly broken on the mountains ; and Pizarro, as he drew near the outer defences, which, as in the fortress of Cuzco, consisted of a stone parapet of great strength drawn round the inclosure, moved quickly forward, confident that the garrison were still buried in sleep. But thousands of eyes were upon him ; and as the Spaniards came within bow- shot, a multitude of dark forms suddenly rose above the rampart, while the Inca, with his lance in hand, was seen on horseback in the inclosure, directing 7 O the operations of his troops.33 At the same moment the air was darkened with innumerable missiles, stones, javelins, and arrows, which fell like a hurri- cane on the troops, and the mountains rang to the wild war-whoop of the enemy. The Spaniards, taken by surprise, and many of them sorely wound- ed, were staggered ; and, though they quickly ral- lied, and made two attempts to renew the assault, they were at length obliged to fall back, unable to endure the violence of the storm. To add to their confusion, the lower level in their rear was flooded by the watery, which the natives, by open- ^ " El no de yucay ques grande enlre su gente, con su lane, a en la por aquella parte va muy angosto y mano." Herrera, Hist. General, hondo." Ibid., MS. dec. 5, lib. 8, cap. 7. 33 " Parecia el Inga a caballo CH. X.] THE INCA RAISES THE SIEGE. 75 ing the sluices, had diverted from the bed of the river, so that their position was no longer tena- ble.34 A council of war was then held, and it was decided to abandon the attack as desperate, and to retreat in as good order as possible. The day had been consumed in these ineffectual operations ; and Hernando, under cover of the friend- ly darkness, sent forward his infantry and baggage, taking command of the centre himself, and trusting the rear to his brother Gonzalo. The river was happily recrossed without accident, although the enemy, now confident in their strength, rushed out of their defences, and followed up the retreating Spaniards, whom they annoyed with repeated dis- charges of arrows. More than once they pressed so closely on the fugitives, that Gonzalo and his chivalry were compelled to turn and make one of those desperate charges that effectually punished their audacity, and stayed the tide of pursuit. Yet the victorious foe still hung on the rear of the dis- comfited cavaliers, till they had emerged from the mountain passes, and come within sight of the blackened walls of the capital. It was the last triumph of the Inca.35 34 " Pues hechos dos 6 tres van el rrio en el llano donde esta- acometimientos a tomar este pueblo vamos, y aguardar mas peresciera- tantas vezes nos hizieron bolver mos aqui todos." Pedro Pizarro, dando de manos. Ansi estuvimos Descub. y Conq., MS. todo este dia hasta puesta de sol; 35 Ibid., MS. — Herrera, Hist. los indios sin entendello nos hecha- General, dec. 5, lib. 8, cap. 7. 76 PEDRO PIZARRO. [BooK III. Among the manuscripts for which 1 am indebted to the liberality of that illustrious Spanish scholar, the lamented Navarrete, the most re- markable, in connection with this history, is the work of Pedro Pi- zarro ; Relaciones del Descubrimiento y Conquista de los Reynos del Peru. But a single copy of this important document appears to have been preserved, the existence of which was but little known till it came into the hands of Senor de Navarrete ; though it did not escape the inde- fatigable researches of Herrera, as is evident from the mention of several incidents, some of them having personal relation to Pedro Pizarro himself, which the historian of the Indies could have derived through no other channel. The manuscript has lately been given to the public as part of the inestimable collection of historical documents now in process of publi cation at Madrid, under auspices which, we may trust, will insure its success. As the printed work did not reach me till my present labors were far advanced, I have preferred to rely on the manuscript copy for the brief remainder of my narrative, as I had been compelled to do for the previous portion of it. Nothing, that I am aware of, is known respecting the author, but what is to be gleaned from incidental notices of himself in his own history. He was born at Toledo in Estremadura, the fruitful province of adventur- ers to the New World, whence the family of Francis Pizarro, to which Pedro was allied, also emigrated. When that chief came over to undertake the conquest of Peru, after receiving his commission from the emperor in 1529, Pedro Pizarro, then only fifteen years of age, ac companied him in quality of page. For three years he remained at- tached to the household of his commander, and afterwards continued to follow his banner as a soldier of fortune. He was present at most of the memorable events of the Conquest, and seems to have possessed in a great degree the confidence of his leader, who employed him on some difficult missions, in which he displayed coolness and gallantry. It is true, we must take the author's own word for all this. But he tells his exploits with an air of honesty, and without any extraordinary effort to set them off in undue relief. He speaks of himself in the third per- son, and, as his manuscript was not intended solely for posterity, he would hardly have ventured on great misrepresentation, where fraud could so easily have been exposed. After the Conquest, our author still remained attached to the for- tunes of his commander, and stood by him through all the troubles which ensued ; and on the assassination of that chief, he withdrew to Arequipa, to enjoy in quiet the repartimiento of lands and Indians, which had been bestowed on him as the recompense of his services. He was there on the breaking out of the great rebellion under Gonzalo Pizarro. CH. X.] PEDRO PIZARRO. 77 But he was true to his allegiance, and chose rather, as he tells us, to be false to his name and his lineage than to his loyalty. Gonzalo, in retaliation, seized his estates, and would have proceeded to still further extremities against him, when Pedro Pizarro had fallen into his hands at Lima, but for the interposition of his lieutenant, the famous Fran- cisco de Carbajal, to whom the chronicler had once the good fortune to render an important service. This, Carbajal requited by sparing his life on two occasions, — but on the second coolly remarked, " No man has a right to a brace of lives ; and if you fall into my hands a third time, God only can grant you another." Happily, Pizarro did not find occasion to put this menace to the test. After the pacification of the country, he again retired to Arequipa ; but, from the querulous tone of his remarks, it would seem he was not fully reinstated in the possessions he had sacrificed by his loyal devotion to government. The last we hear of him is in 1571, the date which he assigns as that of the completion of his history. Pedro Pizarro's narrative covers the whole ground of the Conquest, from the date of the first expedition that sallied out from Panama, to the troubles that ensued on the departure of President Gasca. The first part of the work was gathered from the testimony of others, and, of course, cannot claim the distinction of rising to the highest class of evidence. But all that follows the return of Francis Pizarro from Castile, all, in short, which constitutes the conquest of the country, may be said to be reported on his own observation, as an eyewitness and an actor. This gives to his narrative a value to which it could have no pretensions on the score of its literary execution. Pizarro was a soldier, with as little education, probably, as usually falls to those who have been trained from youth in this rough school-, — the most unpropitious in the world to both mental and moral progress. He had the good sense, more- over, not to aspire to an excellence which he could not reach. There is no ambition of fine writing in his chronicle ; there are none of those affectations of ornament which only make more glaring the beggarly condition of him who assumes them. His object was simply to tell the story of the Conquest, as he had seen it. He was to deal with facts, riot with words, which he wisely left to those who came into the field after the laborers had quitted it, to garner up what they could at second hand. Pizarro's situation may be thought to have necessarily exposed him to party influences, and thus given an undue bias to his narrative. It is not difficult, indeed, to determine under whose banner he had en- listed. He writes like a partisan, and yet like an honest one, "who is no further warped from a correct judgment of passing affairs than, must necessarily come from preconceived opinions. There is no management 78 MONTESINOS. [BOOK III. to work a conviction in his reader on this side or the other, still less any obvious perversion of fact. He evidently believes what he says, and this is the great point to be desired. We can make allowance for the natural influences of his position. Were he more impartial than this, the critic of the present day, by making allowance for a greater amount of prejudice and partiality, might only be led into error. Pizarro is not only independent, but occasionally caustic in his con- demnation of those under whom he acted. This is particularly the case where their measures bear too unfavorably on his own interests, or those of the army. As to the unfortunate natives, he no more regards their sufferings than the Jews of old did those of the Philistines, whom they considered as delivered up to their swords, and whose lands they regarded as their lawful heritage. There is no mercy shown by the hard Conqueror in his treatment of the infidel. Pizarro was the representative of the age in which he lived. Yet it is too much to cast such obloquy on the age. He represented more truly the spirit of the fierce warriors who overturned the dynasty of the Incas. He was not merely a crusader, fighting to extend the empire of the Cross over the darkened heathen. Gold was his great object ; the estimate by which he judged of the value of the Conquest ; the recompense that he asked for a life of toil and danger. It was with these golden visions, far more than with visions of glory, above all, of celestial glory, that the Peruvian adventurer fed his gross and worldly imagination. Pizarro did not rise above his caste. Neither did he rise above it in a mental view, any more than in a moral. His history dis- plays no great penetration, or vigor and comprehension of thought. It is the work of a soldier, telling simply his tale of blood. Its value is, that it is told by him who acted it. And this, to the modern com- piler, renders it of higher worth than far abler productions at second hand. It is the rude ore, which, submitted to the regular process of purification and refinement, may receive the current stamp that fits it for general circulation. Another authority, to whom I have occasionally referred, and whose writings still slumber in manuscript, is the Licentiate Fernando Mon- tesinos. He is, in every respect, the opposite of the military chroni- cler who has just come under our notice. He flourished about a cen- tury after the Conquest. Of course, the value of his writings as an authority for historical facts must depend on his superior opportunities for consulting original documents. For this his advantages were great. He was twice sent in an official capacity to Peru, which required him to visit the different parts of the country. These two missions occupied fifteen years ; so that, while his position gave him access to the colonial archives and literary repositories, he was enabled to verify his re- searches, to some extent, by actual observation of the country. CH. X.] MONTESINOS. 79 The result was his two historical works, Memorias Antiguas Histo- riales del Peru, and his Annales, sometimes cited in these pages. The former is taken up with the early history of the country, —very early, it must be admitted, since if goes back to the deluge. The first part of this treatise is chiefly occupied with an argument to show the iden- tity of Peru with the golden Ophir of Solomon's time! This hy- pothesis, by no means original with the author, may give no unfair notion of the character of his mind. In the progress of his work he follows down the line of Inca princes, whose exploits, and names even, by no means coincide with Garcilasso's catalogue ; a circumstance, however, far from establishing their inaccuracy. But one will have little doubt of the writer's title to this reproach, that reads the absurd legends told in the grave tone of reliance by Montesinos, who shared largely in the credulity and the love of the marvellous which belong to an earlier and less enlightened age. These same traits are visible in his Annals, which are devoted ex- clusively to the Conquest. Here, indeed, the author, after his cloudy flight, has descended on firm ground, where gross violations of truth, or, at least, of probability, are not to be expected. But any one who has occasion to compare his narrative with that of contemporary writers will find frequent cause to distrust it. Yet Montesinos has one merit. In his extensive researches, he became acquainted with original instru- ments, which he has occasionally transferred to his, own pages, and which it would be now difficult to meet elsewhere. His writings have been commended by some of his learned country- men, as showing diligent research and information. My own expe- rience would not assign them a high rank as historical vouchers. They seem to me entitled to little praise, either for the accuracy of their statements, or the sagacity of their reflections. The spirit of cold indifference which they manifest to the sufferings of the natives is an odious feature, for which there is less apology in a writer of the seven- teenth century than in one of the primitive Conquerors, whose passions had been inflamed by long-protracted hostility. M. Ternaux-Compans has translated the Memorias Antiguas with his usual elegance and precision, for his collection of original documents relating to the New World. He speaks in the Preface of doing the same kind office to the Annales, at a future time. 1 am not aware that he has done this ; and J cannot, but think that the excellent translator may find a better subject for his labors in some of the rich collection of the Munoz manuscripts in his possession. BOOK FOURTH. CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. VOL. II. 11 * BOOK IV. CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. CHAPTER I. ALMAGRO'S MARCH TO CHILI. — SUFFERING OF THE TROOPS. — HE RETURNS AND SEIZES CuZCO. ACTION OF ABANCAY. GASPAR DE ESPINOSA. — ALMAGRO LEAVES Cuzco. — NEGOTIATIONS WITH PlZARRO. 1535—1537. WHILE the events recorded in the preceding chapter were passing, the Marshal Almagro was en- gaged in his memorable expedition to Chili. He had set out, as we have seen, with only part of his forces, leaving his lieutenant to follow him with the remainder. During the first part of the way, he profited by the great military road of the Incas, which stretched across the table-land far towards the south. But as he drew near to Chili, the Span- ish commander became entangled in the defiles of the mountains, where no vestige of a road was to be discerned. Here his progress was impeded by all the obstacles which belong to the wild scenery of the Cordilleras ; deep and ragged ravines, round 84 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS [Boon IV. whose sides a slender sheep-path wound up to a dizzy height over the precipices below ; rivers rush- ing in fury down the slopes of the mountains, and throwing themselves in stupendous cataracts into the yawning abyss ; dark forests of pine that seemed to have no end, and then again long reaches of desolate table-land, without so much as a bush or shrub to shelter the shivering traveller from the blast that swept down from the frozen summits of the sierra. The cold was so intense, that many lost the nails of their fingers, their fingers themselves, and some- times their limbs. Others were blinded by the dazzling waste of snow, reflecting the rays of a sun made intolerably brilliant in the thin atmosphere of these elevated regions. Hunger came, as usual, in the train of woes ; for in these dismal solitudes no vegetation that would suffice for the food of man was visible, and no living thing, except only the great bird of the Andes, hovering over their heads in expectation of his banquet. This was too fre- quently afforded by the number of wretched Indians, who, unable, from the scantiness of their clothing, to encounter the severity of the climate, perished by the way. Such was the pressure of hunger, that the miserable survivors fed on the dead bodies of their countrymen, and the Spaniards forced a similar sustenance from the carcasses of their horses, literal- ly frozen to death in the mountain passes.1 — Such 1 Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 10, cap. 1-3. — Oviedo, CH. r.] ALMAGRO'S MARCH TO CHILI. $5 were the terrible penalties which Nature imposed on those who rashly intruded on these her solitary and most savage haunts. Yet their own sufferings do not seem to 4iave touched the hearts of the Spaniards with any feel- ing of compassion for the weaker natives. Their path was everywhere marked by burnt and deso- lated hamlets, the inhabitants of which were com- pelled to do them service as beasts of burden. They were chained together in gangs of ten or twelve, and no infirmity or feebleness of body ex- cused the unfortunate captive from his full share of the common toil, till he sometimes dropped dead, in his very chains, from mere exhaustion ! 2 Alva- rado's company are accused of having been more cruel than Pizarro's ; and many of Almagro's men, it may be remembered, were recruited from that source. The commander looked with displeasure, it is said, on these enormities, and did what he could to repress them. Yet he did not set a good example in his own conduct, if it be true that he Hist, de las Indias, MS., Parte 3, buen hombre i en grand reputacion lib. 9, cap. 4. — Conq. i Fob. del i el que era inclinado a hacer bien Pirn, MS. i a hacer buenos tratamientos a los 2 Conq. i Fob. del Pirn, MS. naturales i los favorecia no era The writer must have made one tenido en tan buena estima, he on this expedition, as he speaks apuntado esto que vi con mis ojos i from personal observation. The en que por mis pecados andwoe por- poor natives had at least one friend que entiendan los que esto leyeren in the Christian camp. " I si en^_que de la manera que aqui digo i el Real havia algun Espanol que con mayores crueldades harto se era buen rancheador i cruel i ma- hizo esta Jornada i descubrimiento tava muchos Indies tenianle por de Chile." 86 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. caused no less than thirty Indian chiefs to be burnt alive, for the massacre of three of his followers!3 The heart sickens at the recital of such atrocities perpetrated on an unoffending people, or, at least, guilty of no other crime than that of defending their own soil too well. There is something in the possession of superior strength most dangerous, in a moral view, to its pos- sessor. Brought in contact with semi-civilized man, the European, with his endowments and effective force so immeasurably superior, holds him as little higher than the brute, and as born equally for his service. He feels that he has a natural right, as it were, to his obedience, and that this obedience is to be measured, not by the powers of the barbarian, but by the will of his conqueror. Resistance becomes a crime to be washed out only in the Hood of the vic- tim. The tale of such atrocities is not confined to the Spaniard. Wherever the civilized man and the savage have come in contact, in the East or in the West, the story has been too often written in blood. From the wild chaos of mountain scenery the Spaniards emerged on the green vale of Coquimbo, 3 "I para castigarlos por la Piru, MS.) Oviedo, who always muerte destos tres Espanoles jun- shows the hard feeling of the colo- tolos en un aposento donde estava nist, excuses this on the old plea aposentado i mando cavalgar la of necessity, —fue necesario este jente de cavallo i la de apie que castigo, — and adds, that after this guardasen las puertas i todos estu- a Spaniard might send a messen- viesen apercividos i los prendio i ger from one end of the country to en conclusion hizo quemar mas de the other, without fear of injury. 30 senores vivos atados cada uno Hist, de las Indias, MS., Parte 3, a su palo " (Conq. i Fob. del lib. 9, cap. 4. CH. I.] ALMAGRO'S MARCH TO CHILI. 87 about the thirtieth degree of south latitude. Here they halted to refresh themselves in its abundant plains, after their unexampled sufferings and fatigues. Meanwhile Almagro despatched an officer with a strong party in advance, to ascertain the character of the country towards the south. Not long after, he was cheered by the arrival of the remainder of his forces under his lieutenant Rodrigo de Orgonez. This was a remarkable person, and intimately con- nected with the subsequent fortunes of Almagro. He was a native of Oropesa, had been trained in the Italian wars, and held the rank of ensign in the army of the Constable of Bourbon at the famous sack of Rome. It was a good school in which to learn his iron trade, and to steel the heart against any too ready sensibility to human suffering. Or- gonez was an excellent soldier ; true to his com- mander, prompt, fearless, and unflinching in the ex- ecution of his orders. His services attracted the notice of the Crown, and, shortly after this period, he was raised to the rank of Marshal of New Tole- do. Yet it may be doubted whether his character did not qualify him for an executive and subordinate station rather than for one of higher responsibility. Almagro received also the royal warrant, confer- ring on him his new powers and territorial jurisdic- tion. The instrument had been detained by the Pizarros to the very last moment. His troops, long since disgusted with their toilsome and unprofitable march, were now clamorous to return. Cuzco, they said, undoubtedly fell within the limits of his gov- 88 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boot IV. eminent, and it was better to take possession of its comfortable quarters than to wander like outcasts in this dreary wilderness. They reminded their commander that thus only could he provide for the interests of his son Diego. This was an illegit- imate son of Almagro, on whom his father doated with extravagant fondness, justified more than usual by the promising character of the youth. After an absence of about two months, the offi- cer sent on the exploring expedition returned, bring- ing unpromising accounts of the southern regions of Chili. The only land of promise for the Castilian was one that teemed with gold.4 He had pene- trated to the distance of a hundred leagues, to the limits, probably, of the conquests of the Incas on the river Maule.6 The Spaniards had fortu- nately stopped short of the land of Arauco, where the blood of their countrymen was soon after to be poured out like water, and which still maintains a proud independence amidst the general humiliation of the Indian races around it. Almagro now yielded, with little reluctance, to the renewed importunities of the soldiers, and turned his face towards the North. It is unnecessary to follow his march in detail. Disheartened by the 4 It is the language of a Span- of the world ; cerca del Jin del iard; " i como no le parecio bien mundo. (Hist, de las Indias, MS., la tierra por no ser quajada de Parte 3, lib. 9, cap. 5.) One must oro." Conq. i Fob. del Piru, MS. not expect to meet with very ac- 5 According to Oviedo, a hun- curate notions of geography in the dred and fifty leagues, and very rude soldiers of America. near, as they told hun, to the end CH. I.] HE RETURNS AND SEIZES CUZCO. 89 difficulty of the mountain passage > he took the road along the coast, which led him across the great des- ert of Atacama. In crossing this dreary waste, which stretches for nearly a hundred leagues to the northern borders of Chili, with hardly a green spot in its expanse to relieve the fainting traveller, Al- magro and his men experienced as great sufferings, though not of the same kind, as those which they had encountered in the passes of the Cordilleras. Indeed, the captain would not easily be found at this day, who would venture to lead his army across this dreary region. But the Spaniard of the six- teenth century had a strength of limb and a buoy- ancy of spirit which raised him to a contempt of ob- stacles, almost justifying the boast of the historian, that " he contended indifferently, at the same time, with man, with the elements, and with famine ! " 6 After traversing the terrible desert, Almagro reached the ancient town of Arequipa, about sixty leagues from Cuzco. Here he learned with aston- ishment the insurrection of the Peruvians, and fur- ther, that the young Inca Manco still lay with a for- midable force at no great distance from the capital. He had once been on friendly terms with the Peru- vian prince, and he now resolved, before proceed- ing farther, to send an embassy to his camp, and arrange an interview with him in the neighbour- hood of Cuzco Almagro's emissaries were well received by the 6 " Peleando en un tiempo con i con la Hambre." Herrera, Hist los Enemigos, con los Elementos, General, dec. 5, lib. 10, cap. 2 VOL. II. 12 90 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boox IV. Inca, who alleged his grounds of complaint against the Pizarros, and named the vale of Yucay as the place where he would confer with the marshal. The Spanish commander accordingly resumed his march, and, taking one half of his force, whose whole num- ber fell somewhat short of five hundred men, he repaired in person to the place of rendezvous ; while the remainder of his army established their quarters at Urcos, about six leagues from the cap- ital.7 The Spaniards in Cuzco, startled by the appear- ance of this fresh body of troops in their neigh- bourhood, doubted, when they learned the quarter whence they came, whether it betided them good or evil. Hernando Pizarro marched out of the city with a small force, and, drawing near to Urcos, heard with no little uneasiness of Almagro's purpose to insist on his pretensions to Cuzco. Though much inferior in strength to his rival, he determined to re- sist him. Meanwhile, the Peruvians, who had witnessed the conference between the soldiers of the opposite camps, suspected some secret understanding be- tween the parties, which would compromise the safety of the Inca. They communicated their dis- trust to Manco, and the latter, adopting the same sentiments, or perhaps, from the first, meditating a surprise of the Spaniards, suddenly fell upon the latter in the valley of Yucay with a body of fif- 7 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Piru, MS. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Conq., MS. — Conq. i Pob. del Indias, MS., Parte 3, lib. 9, cap. 6. CH. L] HE RETURNS AND SEIZES CUZCO. 91 teen thousand men. But the veterans of Chili were too familiar with Indian tactics to be taken by surprise. And though a sharp engagement ensued, which lasted more than an hour, in which Orgonez had a horse killed under him, the natives were final- ly driven back with great slaughter, and the Inca was so far crippled by the blow, that he was not likely for the present to give further molestation.8 Almagro, now joining the division left at Urcos, saw no further impediment to his operations on Cuzco. He sent, at once, an embassy to the mu- nicipality of the place, requiring the recognition of him as its lawful governor, and presenting at the same time a copy of his credentials from the Crown. But the question of jurisdiction was not one easy to be settled, depending, as it did, on a knowledge of the true parallels of latitude, not very likely to be possessed by the rude followers of Pizarro. The royal grant had placed under his jurisdiction all the country extending two hundred and seventy leagues south of the river of Santiago, situated one degree and twenty minutes north of the equator. Two hundred and seventy leagues on the meridian, by our measurement, would fall more than a degree short of Cuzco, andj indeed, would barely include the city of Lima itself. But the Spanish leagues, of only seventeen and a half to a degree,9 would remove the southern boundary to nearly half a de- 8 Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 3, 9 " Contando diez i siete leguas cap. 4. — Conq. i Fob. del Piru, i media por grado." Herrera, MS., Parte 3, lib. 8, cap. 21. Hist. General, dec. C, lib. 3, cap. 5, 92 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boon IV. gree beyond the capital of the Incas, which would thus fall within the jurisdiction of Pizarro.10 Yet the division-line ran so close to the disputed ground, that the true result might reasonably be doubted, where no careful scientific observations had been made to obtain it; and each party was prompt to as- sert, as they always are in such cases, that its own claim was clear and unquestionable.11 Thus summoned by Almagro, the authorities of Cuzco, unwilling to give umbrage to either of the contending chiefs, decided that they must wait until they could take counsel — which they promised to do at once — with certain pilots better instructed than themselves in the position of the Santiago. Meanwhile, a truce was arranged between the par- ties, each solemnly engaging to abstain from hos- tile measures, and to remain quiet in their present quarters. The weather now set in cold and rainy. Alma- 10 The government had endeav- gaged Almagro in his Chili expe- oured early to provide against any dition, did not care to revive the dispute in regard to the limits of question, and the Bishop returned, the respective jurisdictions. The re infecld, to his diocese, with strong language of the original grants feelings of disgust towards the gov- gave room to some misunderstand- ernor. Ibid., dec. 6, lib. 3, cap. 1. ing; and, as early as 1536, Fray n "All say," says Oviedo, in Jomas de Berlanga, Bishop of a letter to the emperor, " that Tierra Firme, had been sent to Cuzco falls within the territory of Lima with full powers to determine Almagro." Oviedo was, probably, the question of boundary, by fixing the best-informed man in the colo- the latitude of the river of Santiago, nies. Yet this was an error. Car- and measuring two hundred and ta desde Sto. Domingo, MS., 25 seventy leagues south on the me- de Oct. 1539. ridian. But Pizarro, having en- CH. I.] HE RETURNS AND SEIZES CUZCO. 93 gro's soldiers, greatly discontented with their po- sition, flooded as it was by the waters, were quick to discover that Hernando Pizarro was busily em- ployed in strengthening himself in the city, contrary to agreement. They also learned with dismay, that a large body of men, sent by the governor from Lima, under command of Alonso de Alvarado, was on the march to relieve Cuzco. They exclaimed that they were betrayed, and that the truce had been only an artifice to secure their inactivity until the arrival of the expected succours. In this state of excitement, it was not very difficult to persuade their commander — too ready to surrender his own judgment to the rash advisers around him — to vio- late the treaty, and take possession of the capital.12 Under cover of a dark and stormy night (April 8th, 1537), he entered the place without opposition, made himself master of the principal church, estab- lished strong parties of cavalry at the head of the great avenues to prevent surprise, and detached Or- gonez with a body of infantry to force the dwelling of Hernando Pizarro. That captain was lodged with his brother Gonzalo in one of the large halls built by the Incas for public diversions, with im- mense doors of entrance that opened on the plaza. It was garrisoned by about twenty soldiers, who, as the gates were burst open, stood stoutly to the de- 12 According to Zarate, Alma- that " he had been deceived." gro, on entering the capital, found (Conq. del Peru, lib. 3, cap. 4.) no appearance of the designs im- He was probably easy of faith in puted to Hernando, and exclaimed the matter. 94 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. BOOK IV. fence of their leader. A smart struggle ensued, in which some lives were lost, till at length Orgonez, provoked by the obstinate resistance, set fire to the combustible roof of the building. It was speedily in flames, and the burning rafters falling on the heads of the inmates, they forced their reluctant leader to an unconditional surrender. Scarcely had the Spaniards left the building, when the whole roof fell in with a tremendous crash.13 Almagro was now master of Cuzco. He ordered the Pizarros, with fifteen or twenty of the princi- pal cavaliers, to be secured and placed in confine- ment. Except so far as required for securing his authority, he does not seem to have been guilty of acts of violence to the inhabitants,14 and he installed one of Pizarro's most able officers, Gabriel de Rojas, in the government of the city. The municipality, whose eyes were now open to the validity of Alma- gro's pretensions, made no further scruple to recog- nize his title to Cuzco. The marshal's first step was to send a message to Alonso de Alvarado's camp, advising that officer of his occupation of the city, and requiring his obe- dience to him, as its legitimate master. Alvarado was lying, with a body of five hundred men, horse 13 Carta de Espinall, Tesorero general testimony; yet Pedro Fi- de N. Toledo, 15 de Junio, 1539. zarro, one of the opposite faction, — Conq. i Fob. del Piru, MS. — and among those imprisoned by Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Almagro, complains that that chief MS. — Oviedo, Hist, de las In- plundered them of their horses and dias, MS., Parte 3, lib. 8, cap. 21. other property. Descub. y €onq., 14 So it would appear from the MS. CH. I.] HE RETURNS AND SEIZES CUZCO. 95 and foot, at Xauxa, about thirteen leagues from the capital. He had been detached several months pre- viously for the relief of Cuzco ; but had, most unac- countably, and, as it proved, most unfortunately for the Peruvian capital, remained at Xauxa with the alleged motive of protecting that settlement and the surrounding country against the insurgents.15 He now showed himself loyal to his commander ; and, when Almagro's ambassadors reached his camp, he put them in irons, and sent advice of what had been done to the governor at Lima. Almagro, offended by the detention of his emis- saries, prepared at once to march against Alonso de Alvarado, and take more effectual means to bring him to submission. His lieutenant, Orgonez, strong- ly urged him before his departure to strike off the heads of the Pizarros, alleging, " that, while they lived, his commander's life would never be safe " ; and concluding with the Spanish proverb, " Dead men never bite." 16 But the marshal, though he detested Hernando in his heart, shrunk from so vi- olent a measure ; and, independently of other con- siderations, he had still an attachment for his old associate, Francis Pizarro, and was unwilling to 15 Pizarro's secretary Picado largely trusted, both before and had an encomienda in that neigh- after, by the Pizarros ; and we bourhood, and Alvarado, who was may presume there was some ex- under personal obligations to him, planation of his conduct, of which remained there, it is said, at his we are not possessed, instigation. (Herrera, Hist. Ge- 16 "El muerto no mordia." neral, dec. 5, lib. 8, cap. 7.) Al- Ibid., dec. 6, lib. 2, cap. 8. varado was a good officer, and 96 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boo* I\. sever the lies between them for ever. Contenting himself, therefore, with placing his prisoners under strong guard in one of the stone buildings belonging to the House of the Sun, he put himself at the head of his forces, and left the capital in quest of Alvarado. ^ That officer had now taken up a position on the farther side of the Rio de Abancay, where he lay, with the strength of his little army, in front of a bridge, by which its rapid waters are traversed, while a strong detachment occupied a spot commanding a ford lower down the river. But in this detachment was a cavalier of much consideration in the army, Pedro de Lerma, who, from some pique against his commander, had entered into treasonable correspond- ence with the opposite party. By his advice, Al- magro, on reaching the border of the river, establish- ed himself against the bridge in face of Alvarado, as if prepared to force a passage, thus concentrating his adversary's attention on that point. But, when darkness had set in, he detached a large body under Orgofiez to pass the ford, and operate in concert with Lerma. Orgofiez executed this commission with his usual promptness. The ford was crossed, though the current ran so swiftly, that several of his men were swept away by it, and perished in the waters. Their leader received a severe wound him- self in the mouth, as he was gaining the opposite bank, but, nothing daunted, he cheered on his men, and fell with fury on the enemy. He was speedily joined by Lerma, and such of the soldiers as he CH. I.] ACTION OF ABANCAY. 97 had gained over, and, unable to distinguish friend from foe, the enemy's confusion was complete. Meanwhile, Alvarado, roused by the noise of the attack on this quarter, hastened to the support of his officer, when Almagro, seizing the occasion, pushed across the bridge, dispersed the small body left to defend it, and, falling on Alvarado's rear, that general saw himself hemmed in on all sides. The struggle did not last long ; and the unfortunate chief, uncertain on whom he l could rely, surren- dered with all his force, — those only excepted who had already deserted to the enemy. Such was the battle of Abancay, as it was called, from the river on whose banks it was fought, on the twelfth of July, 1537. Never was a victory more complete, or achieved with less cost t>f life ; and Almagro marched back, with an array of prisoners scarcely inferior to his own army in number, in tri- umph to Cuzco.17 While the events related in the preceding pages were passing, Francisco Pizarro had remained at Lima, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the re- inforcements which he had requested, to enable him to march to the relief of the beleaguered capital of the Incas. His appeal had not been unanswered. Among the rest was a corps of two hundred and fifty men, led by the Licentiate Caspar de Espinosa, 17 Carta de Francisco Pizarro al Hist, de las Indias, MS., ubi supra. Obispo de Tierra Firme, MS., 28 — Conq. i Fob. del Piru, MS.— de Agosto, 1539. — Pedro Pizarro, Carta de Espinall, MS. Descub. y Conq., MS. — Oviedo, VOL. II. 13 98 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boos IV. one of the three original associates, it may be re- membered, who engaged in the conquest of Peru. He had now left his own residence at Panama, and came in person, for the first* time, it would seem, to revive the drooping fortunes of his confederates. Pizarro received also a vessel laden with provisions, military stores, and other necessary supplies, be- sides a rich wardrobe for himself, from Cortes, the Conqueror of Mexico, who generously stretched forth his hand to aid his kinsman in the hour of need.18 With a force amounting to four hundred and fifty men, half of them cavalry, the governor quitted Lima, and began his march on the Inca capital. He had not advanced far, when he received tidings of the return of Almagro, the seizure of Cuzco, and the imprisonment of his brothers ; and, before he had time to recover from this astounding intelli- gence, he learned the total, defeat and capture of Alvarado. Filled with consternation at these rapid successes of his rival, he now returned in all haste to Lima, which he put in the best posture of de- fence, to secure it against the hostile movements, not unlikely, as he thought, to be directed against that capital itself. Meanwhile, far from indulging in im- potent sallies of resentment, or in complaints of his ancient comrade, he only lamented that Almagro 18 " Fernando Cortes embio con re§os, Vestidos de Seda, i vna Rodrigo de Grijalva en vn proprio Ropa de Martas." Gomara, Hist. Naviosuio,desdelaNuevaEspana, de las Ind., cap. 136. muchas Armas, Tiros, Jaeces, Ade- CH. I.] CASPAR DE ESPINOSA. 99 should have resorted to these violent measures for the settlement of their dispute, and this less — if we may take his word for it — from personal consid- erations than from the prejudice it might do to the interests of the Crown.19 But, while busily occupied with warlike prepara- tions, he did not omit to try the effect of negotiation. He sent an embassy to Cuzco, consisting of several persons in whose discretion he placed the greatest confidence, with Espinosa at their head, as the party most interested in an amicable arrangement. The licentiate, on his arrival, did 'not find Al- magro in as favorable a mood for an accommo- dation as he could have wished. Elated by his recent successes, he now aspired not only to the possession of Cuzco, but of Lima itself, as falling within the limits of his jurisdiction. It was in vain that Espinosa urged the propriety, by every argu- ment which prudence could suggest, of moderating his demands. His claims upon Cuzco, at least, were not to be shaken, and he declared himself ready to peril his life in maintaining them. The licentiate coolly replied by quoting the pithy Castil- ian proverb, El vencido vencido, y el vencidor per- dido ; " The vanquished vanquished, and the victor undone." What influence the temperate arguments of the licentiate might eventually have had on the heated imagination of the soldier is doubtful ; but unfortu- 19 Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 2, cap. 7. 100 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. nately for the negotiation, it was abruptly terminated by the death of Espinosa himself, which took place most unexpectedly, though, strange to say, in those times, without the imputation of poison.20 He was a great loss to the parties in the existing, fermentation of their minds ; for he had the weight of character which belongs to wise and moderate counsels, and a deeper interest than any other man in recommend- ing them. The name of Espinosa is memorable in history from his early connection with the expedition to Peru, which, but for the seasonable, though secret, application of his funds, could not then have been compassed. He had long been a resident in the Spanish colonies of Tierra Firme and Panama, where he had served in various capacities, some- times as a legal functionary presiding in the courts of justice,21 and not unfrequently as an efficient leader in the early expeditions of conquest and dis- covery. In these manifold vocations he acquired high reputation for probity, intelligence, and cour- age, and his death at the present crisis was un- doubtedly the most unfortunate event that could befall the country. All attempt at negotiation was now abandoned ; -,: 20 Carta de Pizarro al Obispo Vasco Nunez de Balboa. But it de Tierra Firme, MS. — Herrera, must be allowed, that he made great Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 2, cap. efforts to resist the tyrannical pro- 13. — Carta de Espinall, MS. ceedings of Pedrarias, and he ear- 21 He incurred some odium as nestly recommended the prisoner to presiding officer in the trial and mercy. See Herrera, Hist. Ge- condemnation of the unfortunate neral, dec. 2, lib. 2, cap. 21, 22. CH. I.] ALMAGRO LEAVES CUZCO. 101 and Almagro announced his purpose to descend to the sea-coast, where he could plant a colony and es- tablish a port for himself. This would secure him the means, so essential, of communication with the mother-country, and here he would resume negotia- tions for the settlement of his dispute with Pizarro. Before quitting Cuzco, he sent Orgonez with a strong force against the Inca, not caring to leave the capital exposed in his absence to further annoyance from that quarter. But the Inca, discouraged by his late discomfiture, and unable, perhaps, to rally in sufficient strength for resistance, abandoned his strong-hold at Tambo, and retreated across the mountains. He was hotly pursued by Orgonez over hill and valley, till, desert- ed by his followers, and with only one of his wives to bear him company, the -royal fugitive took shelter in the remote fastnesses of the Andes.22 Before leaving the capital, Orgonez again urged his commander to strike off the heads of the Pizar- ros, and then march at once upon Lima. By this decisive step he would bring the war to an issue, and for ever secure himself from the insidious machi- nations of his enemies. But, in the mean time, a new friend had risen up to the captive brothers. This was Diego de Alvarado, brother of that Pedro, who, as mentioned in a preceding chapter, had con- ducted the unfortunate expedition to Quito. After his brother's departure, Diego had attached himself 23 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — Conq. i Pob. del Piru. MS. 102 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. to the fortunes of Almagro, had accompanied him to Chili, and, as he was a cavalier of birth, and pos- sessed of some truly noble qualities, he had gained deserved ascendency over his commander. Alvara- do had frequently visited Hernando Pizarro in his confinement, where, to beguile the tediousness of captivity, he amused himself with gaming, — the passion of the Spaniard. They played deep, and Alvarado lost the enormous sum of eighty thousand gold castellanos. He was prompt in paying the debt, but Hernando Pizarro peremptorily declined to receive the money. By this politic generosity, he secured an important advocate in the council of Al- magro. It stood him now in good stead. Alvarado represented to the marshal, that such a measure as that urged by Orgonez would not only outrage the feelings of his followers, but would ruin his fortunes by the indignation it must excite at court. When Almagro acquiesced in these views, as in truth most grateful to his own nature, Orgonez, chagrined at his determination^ declared that the day would come when he would repent this mistaken lenity. " A Pizarro," he said, " was never, known to forget an injury; and that which they had already received from Almagro was too deep for them to forgive." Prophetic words ! On leaving Cuzco, the marshal gave orders that Gonzalo Pizarro and the other prisoners should be detained in strict custody. Hernando he took with him, closely guarded, on his march. Descending rapidly towards the coast, he reached the pleasant CH. I.] , NEGOTIATIONS WITH PIZARRO. 103 vale of Chincha in the latter part of August. Here he occupied himself with laying the founda- tions of a town bearing his own name, which might serve as a counterpart to the City of the Kings, — thus bidding defiance, as it were, to his rival on his own borders. While occupied in this manner, he received the unwelcome tidings, that Gonzalo Pi- zarro, Alonso de Alvarado, and the other prisoners, having tampered with their guards, had effected their escape from Cuzco, and he soon after heard of their safe arrival in the camp of Pizarro. Chafed by this intelligence, the marshal was not soothed by the insinuations of Orgonez, that it was owing to his ill-advised lenity ; and it might have gone hard with Hernando, but that Almagro's atten- tion was diverted by the negotiation which Fran- cisco Pizarro now proposed to resume. After some correspondence between the parties, it was agreed to submit the arbitration of the dis- pute to a single individual, Fray Francisco de Bo- vadilla, a Brother of the Order of Mercy. Though living in Lima, and, as might be supposed, under the influence of Pizarro, he had a reputation for in- tegrity that disposed Almagro to confide the settle- ment of the question exclusively to him. In this implicit confidence in the friar's 'impartiality, Orgo- fiez, of a less sanguine temper than his chief, did not participate.23 23 Carta de Gutierrez al Empe- Hist, de las Ind., MS., ubi supra, rador, MS., 10 de Feb. 1539. — — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6,. Carta de EspinaU, MS.— Oviedo, lib. 2, cap. 8-14. — Pedro Pi- 104 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. An interview was arranged between the rival chiefs. It took place at Mala, November 13th, 1537 ; but very different was the deportment of the two commanders towards each other from that which they had exhibited at their former meetings. Almagro, indeed, doffing his bonnet, advanced in his usual open manner to salute his ancient comrade ; but Pizarro, hardly condescending to return the sa- lute, haughtily demanded why the marshal had seized upon his city of Cuzco, and imprisoned his brothers. This led to a recrimination on the part of his asso- ciate. The discussion assumed the tone of an angry altercation, till Almagro, taking a hint — or what he conceived to be such — from an attendant, that some treachery was intended, abruptly quitted the apartment, mounted his horse, and galloped back to his quarters at Chincha.*1 The conference closed, as might have been anticipated from the heated temper of their minds whenr they began it, by widening the breach it was intended to heal. The zarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — (Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 3, lib. 3, cap. 4.) Pedro Pizarro ad- cap. 8. — Naharro, Relacion Su- mits the truth of the design im- maria, MS. puted to Gonzalo, which he was 24 It was said that Gonzalo Pi- prevented from putting into execu- zarro lay in ambush with a strong tion by the commands of the gov- force in the neighbourhood to in- ernor, who, the chronicler, with tercept the marshal, and that the edifying simplicity, or assurance, latter was warned of his danger informs us, was a man that scrupu- by an honorable cavalier of the lously kept his w*ord. " Porque el opposite party, who repeated a dis- marquez don Francisco Pizarro hera tich of an old ballad, hombre que guardava mucho su " Tiempo es el Cabaiiero palabra." Descub. y Conq., MS Tiempo es de andar de aqui." CH. I.] NEGOTIATIONS WITH PIZARRO. 105 friar, now left wholly to himself, after some de- liberation, gave his award. He decided that a vessel, with a skilful pilot on board, should be sent to determine the exact latitude of the river of Santiago, the northern boundary of Pizarro's territory, by which all the measurements were to be regulated. In the mean time, Cuzco was to be delivered up by Almagro, and Hernando Pizarro to be set at liberty, on condition of his leaving the country in six weeks for Spain. Both parties were to retire within their undisputed territories, and to abandon all further hostilities.25 This award, as may be supposed, highly satisfac- tory to Pizarro, was received by Almagro's men with indignation and scorn. They had been sold, they cried, by their general, broken, as he was, by age and infirmities. Their enemies were to occu- py Cuzco and its pleasant places, while they were to be turned over to the barren wilderness of Char- cas. Little did they dream that uncjer this poor , exterior were hidden the rich treasures of Potosi. They denounced the umpire as a hireling of the governor, and murmurs were heard among the troops, stimulated by Orgonez, demanding the head of Hernando. Never was that cavalier in greater danger. But his good genius in the form of Alva- rado again interposed to protect him. His life in captivity was a succession of reprieves.26 /". *„. . , *,- ^ >. •, .-.-•., ; *• 25 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y * Espinall, Almagro 's treas- Conq., MS. — Carta de Espinall, urer, denounces the friar "as MS. proving himself a very devil " by VOL. II. 14 106 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. Yet his brother, the governor, was not disposed to abandon him to his fate. On the contrary, he was now prepared to make every concession to se- cure his freedom. Concessions, that politic chief well knew, cost little to those who are not con- cerned to abide by them. After some preliminary negotiation, another award, more equitable, or, at all events, more to the satisfaction of the discontented party, was given. The principal articles of it were, that, until the arrival of some definitive instructions on the point from Castile, the city of Cuzco, with its territory, should remain in the hands of Almagro ; and that Hernando Pizarro should be set at liberty, on the condition, above stipulated, of leaving the country in six weeks. — When the terms of this agreement were communicated to Orgoiiez, that officer intimated his opinion of them, by passing his finger across his throat, and exclaiming, " What has my fidelity to my commander cost me ! " 27 Almagro, in order to do greater honor to his pris- oner, visited him in person, and announced to him that he was from that moment free. He expressed a hope, at the same time, that " all past differences would be buried in oblivion, and that henceforth this award. (Carta al Emperador, 27 " I toraando la barba con la MS.) And Oviedo, a more dis- mano izquierda, con la derecha hi$o passionate judge, quotes, without sefial de cortarse la cabeca, dicien- condemning, a cavalier who told do : Orgonez, Orgoiiez, por el the father, that " a sentence so amistad de Don Diego de Almagro unjust had not been pronounced te han de cortar esta." Herrera, since the time of Pontius Pilate "! Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 3, Hist, de las Indias, MS., Parte 3, cap. 9. lib. 8, cap. 21. CH. I.] NEGOTIATIONS WITH PIZARRO. 107 they should live only in the recollection of their ancient friendship." Hernando replied, with ap- parent cordiality, that "he desired nothing better for himself." He then swore in the most solemn manner, and pledged his knightly honor, — the lat- ter, perhaps, a pledge of quite as much weight in his own mind as the former, — that he would faithfully comply with the terms stipulated in the treaty. He was next conducted by the- marshal to his quar- ters, where he partook of a collation in company with the principal officers ; several of whom, to- gether with Diego Almagro, the general's son, after- ward escorted the cavalier to his brother's camp, which had been transferred to the neighbouring town of Mala. Here the party received a most cordial greeting from the governor, who entertained them with a courtly hospitality, and lavished many attentions, in particular, on the son of his ancient associate. In shott, such, on their return, was the account of their reception, that it left no doubt in the mind of Almagro that all was at length amicably settled.28 — He did not know Pizarro. 28 Ibid., loc. cit. — Carta de Descub. y Conq., MS. — Zarate, Gutierrez, MS. — Pedro Pizarro, Conq. del Peru, lib. 3, cap. 9. . •.".•' • ?.-£<", ' S fidently on the patience of his au- lib> 4? cap- 2< _ Herrera, Hist. dience. The following verses de- General, dec. 6, lib. 8, cap. 6, 7. scribe the miserable condition to _Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte which the Spaniards were reduced 2 ^ 3^ cap 3 by the incessant rains. ' The last writer obtained his in. "SinqueelSolenestetiempo formation, as he tells us, from Su cara v6r nos permita, several who were present in- the Ni lag nubes taberneraa expedition. The reader may be ss^ysy^ assured that h has iost nothin^ in Q.ue hasta el alma nos bautizan. coming through his hands. 158 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV, by winding along its banks, they hoped to find a safer and more practicable route. After traversing its borders for a considerable distance, closely beset with thickets which it taxed their strength to the utmost to overcome, Gonzalo and his party came within hearing of a rushing noise that sounded like subterranean thunder. The river, lashed into fury, tumbled along over rapids with frightful velocity, and conducted them to the brink of a magnificent cataract, which, to their wondering fancies, rushed down in one vast volume of foam to the depth of twelve hundred feet ! 7 The appalling sounds which they had heard for the distance of six leagues were rendered yet more oppressive to the spirits by the gloomy stillness of the surrounding forests. The rude warriors were filled with sentiments of awe. Not a bark dimpled the waters. No living thing was to be seen but the wild tenants of the wilder- ness, the unwieldy boa, and the loathsome alligator basking on the borders of the stream. The trees towering in wide-spread magnificence towards the 7 " Al cabo de este largo camino the great cataract of the Tequen- hallaron que el rio hazia vn salto" dama in the Bogota, as measured de una pena de mas de dozientas by Humboldt, usually esteemed bracjas de alto : que hazia tan gran the highest in America, is not so ruydo, que lo oyeron mas de seys great as that of some of the cas- leguas antes que llegassen a el." cades thrown over the precipices in (Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, Switzerland. Yet the estimates lib. 3, cap. 3.) I find nothing to of the Spaniards, who, in the confirm or to confute the account gloomy state of their feelings, of this stupendous cataract in later were doubtless keenly alive to im- travellers, not very numerous in pressions of the sublime and the these wild regions. The alleged terrible, cannot safely be relied on. height of the falls, twice that of CH. IV.] .life DISCOVERS THE NAPO. 159 heavens, the river rolling on in its rocky bed as it had rolled for ages, the solitude and silence of the scene, broken only by the hoarse fall of waters, or the faint rustling of the woods, — all seemed to spread out around them in the same wild and primi- tive state as when they came from the hands of the Creator. For some distance above and below the falls, the bed of the river contracted so that its width did not exceed twenty feet. Sorely pressed by hunger, the adventurers determined, at all hazards, to cross to the opposite side, in hopes of finding a country that might afford them sustenance. A frail bridge was constructed by throwing the huge trunks of trees across the chasm, where the cliffs, as if split asunder by some convulsion of nature, descended sheer down a perpendicular depth of several hundred feet. Over this airy causeway the men and horses suc- ceeded in effecting their passage with the loss of a single Spaniard, who, made giddy by heedlessly looking down, lost his footing and fell into the boil- ing surges below. Yet they gained little by the exchange. The country wore the same unpromising aspect, and the river-banks wrere studded with gigantic trees, or fringed with impenetrable thickets. The tribes of Indians, whom they occasionally met in the pathless wilderness, were fierce and unfriendly, and they were engaged in perpetual skirmishes with them. From these they learned that a fruitful country wa? to be found down the river at the distance of only a 160 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV few days' journey, and the Spaniards held on their weary way, still hoping and still deceived, as the promised land flitted before them, like the rain- bow, receding as they advanced. At length, spent with toil and suffering, Gonzalo resolved to construct a bark large enough to trans- port the weaker part of his company and his bag- gage. The forests furnished him with timber ; the shoes of the horses which had died on the road or been slaughtered for food, were converted into nails ; gum distilled from the trees took the place of pitch ; and the tattered garments of the soldiers supplied a substitute for oakum. It was a work of difficulty ; but Gonzalo cheered his men in the task, and set an example by taking part in their labors. At the end of two months a brigantine was completed, rudely put together, but strong and of sufficient burden to carry half the company, — the first European ves- sel that ever floated on these inland waters. Gonzalo gave the command to Francisco de Ore- liana, a cavalier from Truxillo, on whose courage and devotion to himself he thought he could rely. The troops now moved forward, still following the de- scending course of the river, while the brigantine kept alongside ; and when a bold promontory or more impracticable country intervened, it furnished timely aid by the transportation of the feebler sol- diers. In this .way they journeyed, for many a wea- risome week, 'through the dreary wilderness on the borders of the Napo. Every scrap of provisions had been long since consumed. The last of their horses CH. IV.] INCREDIBLE SUFFERINGS. 161 had been devoured. To appease the gnawings of hunger, they were fain to eat the leather of their saddles and belts. The woods supplied them with scanty sustenance, and they greedily fed upon toads, serpents, and such other reptiles as they occasional- ly found.8 They were now told of a rich district, inhabited by a populous nation, where the Napo emptied into a still greater river that flowed towards the east. It was, as usual, at the distance of several days' jour- ney ; and Gonzalo Pizarro resolved to halt where he was and send Orellana down in his brigantine to the confluence of the waters to procure a stock of pro- visions, with which he might return and put them in condition to resume their march. That cavalier, accordingly, taking with him fifty of the adventurers, pushed off into the middle of the river, where the stream ran swiftly, and his bark, taken by the cur- rent, shot forward with the speed of an arrow, and was soon out of sight. Days and weeks passed away, yet the vessel did not return ; and no speck was to be seen on the waters, as the Spaniards strained their eyes to the farthest point, where the line of light faded away in the dark shadows of the foliage on the borders. De- 8 " Yeruas y rayzes, y fruta Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 3, cap. 4. siluestre, sapos, y culebras, y otras — Capitulation con Orellana, MS. malas sauandijas, si las auia por — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6r aquellas montanas que todo les lib. 8, cap. 7. — Zarate, Conq. del hazia buen estomago a los Espano- Peru, lib. 4, cap. 3, 4. — Gomara, les; que peor les yua con la falta Hist, de las Ind., cap. 143. de cosas tan viles." Garcilasso, VOL. II. 21 Ik, 162 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boox IV. tachments were sent out, and, though absent several days, came back without intelligence of their com- rades. Unable longer to endure this suspense, or, indeed, to maintain themselves in their present quar- ters, Gonzalo and his famishing followers now deter- mined to proceed towards the junction of the rivers. Two months elapsed before they accomplished this terrible journey, — those of them who did not per- ish on the way, — although the distance probably did not exceed two hundred leagues ; and they at length reached the spot so long desired, where the Napo pours its tide into the Amazon, that mighty stream, which, fed by its thousand tributaries, rolls on towards the ocean, for many hundred miles, through the heart of the great continent, — the most majestic of American rivers. But the Spaniards gathered no tidings of Ore- liana, while the country, though more populous than the region they had left, was as little inviting in its aspect, and was tenanted by a race yet more fero- cious. They now abandoned the hope of recover- ing their comrades, who they supposed must have miserably perished by famine or by the hands of the natives. But their doubts were at length dispelled by the appearance of a white man wandering half- naked in the woods, in whose famine-stricken coun- tenance they recognized the features of one of their countrymen. It was Sanchez de Vargas, a cavalier of good descent, and much esteemed in the army. He had a dismal tale to tell. Orellana, borne swiftly down the current of the CH. IV.] ORELLANA SAILS DOWN THE AMAZON. 163 Napo, had reached the point of its confluence with the Amazon in less than three days ; accomplishing in this brief space of time what had cost Pizarro and his company two months. He had found the country altogether different from what had been rep- resented ; and, so far from supplies for his country- men, he could barely obtain sustenance for himself. Nor was it possible for him to return as he had come, and make head against the current of the river ; while the attempt to journey by land was an alternative scarcely less formidable. In this dilem- ma, an idea flashed across his mind. It was to launch his bark at once on the bosom of the Ama- zon, and descend its waters to its mouth. He would then visit the rich and populous nations that, as report said, lined its borders, sail out on the great ocean, cross to the neighbouring isles, and return to Spain to claim the glory and the guerdon of discov- ery. The suggestion was eagerly taken up by his reckless companions, welcoming any course that would rescue them from the wretchedness of their present existence, and fired with the prospect of new and stirring adventure, — for the love of adventure was the last feeling to become extinct in the bosom of the Castilian cavalier. They heeded little their unfortunate comrades, whom they were to abandon in the wilderness ! 9 9 This statement of De Vargas on his return to Castile. The was confirmed by Orellana, as ap- document is preserved entire in the pears from the language of the Munoz collection of MSS. royal grant made to that cavalier " Haviendo vos ido con ciertos 164 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. This is not the place to record the circumstances of Orellana's extraordinary expedition. He suc- ceeded in his enterprise. But it is marvellous that he should have escaped shipwreck in the perilous and unknown navigation of that river. Many times his vessel was nearly dashed to pieces on its rocks and in its furious rapids ; 10 and he was in still greater peril from the warlike tribes on its borders, who fell on his little troop whenever he attempted to land, and followed in his wake for miles in their canoes. He at length emerged from the great river ; and, once upon the sea, Orellana made for the isle of Cubagua ; thence passing over to Spain, he repaired to court, and told the circumstances of his voyage, — of the nations of Amazons whom he had found on the banks of the river, the El Dorado which re- port assured him existed in the neighbourhood, and other marvels, — the exaggeration rather than the coinage of a credulous fancy. His audience listened with willing ears to the tales of the traveller ; and companeros un rio abajo a buscar 10 Condamine, who. in 1743, comida, con la corriente fuistes went down the Amazon, has often metidos por el dicho rio mas de occasion to notice the perils and 200 leguas donde no pudistes dar perplexities in which he was in- la buelta e por esta necesidad e volved in the navigation of this por la mucha noticia que tuvistes river, too difficult, as he says, to de la grandeza e riqueza de la be undertaken without the guid- tierra, posponiendo vuestro peligro, ance of a skilful pilot. See his sin interes ninguno por servir a. Relation Abregee d'un Voyage S. M. os aventurastes a saber lo fait dans 1'Interieur de 1'Amerique que havia en aquellas provincias, e Meridionale. (Maastricht, 1778.) ansi descubristes e hallastes gran- des poblaciones . ' ' Capitulation con Orellana, MS. CH. IV.] ORELLANA SAILS DOWN THE AMAZON. 165 in an age of wonders, when the mysteries of the East and the West were hourly coming to light, they might be excused for not discerning the true line between romance and reality.11 He found no difficulty in obtaining a commission to conquer and colonize the realms he had discov- ered. He soon saw himself at the head of five hundred followers, prepared to share the perils and the profits of his expedition. But neither he, nor his country, was destined to realize these profits. He died on his outward passage, and the lands washed by the Amazon fell within the territories of Portugal. The unfortunate navigator did not even enjoy the undivided honor of giving his name to the waters he had discovered. He enjoyed only the barren glory of the discovery, surely not balanced by the iniquitous circumstances which attended it.12 11 It has not been easy to discern ing ventured upon a navigation of the exact line in later times, with near two thousand leagues, through all the lights of modern discovery, unknown nations, in a vessel hastily Condamine, after a careful inves- constructed, with green timber, and tigation, considers that there is good by very unskilful hands, without ground for believing in the exist- provisions, without a compass, or a ence of a community of armed pilot." (Robertson, America, (ed. women, once living somewhere in London, 1796,) vol. III. p. 84.) the neighbourhood of the Amazon, The historian of America does not though they have now disappeared, hold the moral balance with as un- it would be hard to disprove the erring a hand as usual, in his judg- fact, but still harder, considering ment of Orellana's splendid enter- the embarrassments in perpetuat- prise. No success, however splen- ing such a community, to believe did, in the language of one, not it. Voyage dans 1'Ame'rique Me- too severe a moralist, ridionale, p. 99, et seq. "Can blazon evil deeds or consecrate a 12 " His crime is, in some meas- crime." tire, balanced by the glory of hav- 166 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boox IV. One of Orellana's party maintained a stout oppo- sition to his proceedings, as repugnant both to hu- manity and honor. This was Sanchez de Vargas ; and the cruel commander was revenged on him by abandoning him to his fate in the desolate region where he was now found by his countrymen.13 The Spaniards listened with horror to the recital of Vargas, and their blood almost froze in their veins as they saw themselves thus deserted in the heart of this remote wilderness, and deprived of their only means of escape from it. They made an effort to prosecute their journey along the banks, but, after some toilsome days, strength and spirits failed, and they gave up in despair ! Then it was that the qualities of Gonzalo Pizarro, as a fit leader in the hour of despondency and dan- ger, shone out conspicuous. To advance farther was hopeless. To stay where they were, without 13 An expedition more remark- Still, like Milton's lady in Comus, able than that of Orellana was she was permitted to come safely performed by a delicate female, out of all these perils, and, after Madame Godin, who, in 1769, at- unparalleled sufferings, falling in tempted to descend the Amazon in with some friendly Indians, she was an open boat to its mouth. She conducted by them to a French set- was attended by seven persons, tlement. Though a young woman, two of them her brothers, and two it will not be surprising that the her female domestics. The boat hardships and terrors she endured was wrecked, and Madame Godin, turned her hair perfectly white, narrowly escaping with her life, The details of the extraordinary endeavoured with her party to story are given in a letter to M. de accomplish the remainder of her la Condamine by her husband, who journey on foot. She saw them tells them in an earnest, unaffected perish, one after another, of hun- way that engages our confidence, ger and disease, till she was left Voyage dans TAm^rique Meri- alone in the howling wilderness, dionale, p. 329, et seq. • t. vJn. IV.] DESPAIR OF THE SPANIARDS. 167 food or raiment, without defence from the fierce ani- mals of the forest and the fiercer natives, was im- possible. One only course remained ; it was to return to Quito. But this brought with it the recol- lection of the past, of sufferings which they could too well estimate, — hardly to be endured even in imagination. They were now at least four hundred leagues from Quito, and more than a year had elapsed since they had set out on their painful pilgrimage. How could they encounter these perils again ! H Yet there was no alternative. Gonzalo endeav- oured to reassure his followers by dwelling on the invincible constancy they had hitherto displayed ; adjuring them to show themselves still worthy of the name of Castilians. He reminded them of the glory they would for ever acquire by their heroic achievement, when they should reach their own country. He would lead them back, he said, by another route, and it could not be but that they should meet somewhere with those abundant re- gions of which they had so often heard. It was something, at least, that every step would take them nearer home ; and as, at all events, it was clearly the only course now left, they should prepare to meet it like men. The spirit would sustain the 14 Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte One must not expect from these 2, lib. 3, cap. 5. — Herrera, Hist, wanderers in the wilderness any General, dec. 6, lib. 8, cap. 8. — exact computation of time or dis- Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 4, tance, destitute, as they were, of cap. 5. — Gomara, Hist, de las the means of making a correct ob- Jnd., cap. 143. serration of either. 168 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV body ; and difficulties encountered in the right spirit were half vanquished already ! The soldiers listened eagerly to his words of promise and encouragement. The confidence of their leader gave life to the desponding. They felt the force of his reasoning, and, as they lent a wil- ling ear to his assurances, the pride of the old Cas- tilian honor revived in their bosoms, and every one caught somewhat of the generous enthusiasm of their commander. He was, in truth, entitled to their devotion. From the first hour of the expe- dition, he had freely borne his part in its privations. Far from claiming the advantage of his position, he had taken his lot with the poorest soldier ; minister- ing to the wants of the sick, cheering up the spirits of the desponding, sharing his stinted allowance with his famished followers, bearing his full part in the toil and burden of the march, ever showing himself their faithful comrade, no less than their captain. He found the benefit of this conduct in a trying hour like the present. I will spare the reader the recapitulation of the sufferings endured by the Spaniards on their retro- grade march to Quito. They took a more northerly route than that by which they had approached the Amazon ; and, if it was attended with fewer diffi- culties, they experienced yet greater distresses from their greater inability to overcome them. Their only nourishment was such scanty fare as they could pick up in the forest, or happily meet with in some forsaken Indian settlement, or wring by violence CH. IV.] THE SURVIVORS RETURN TO QUITO. 169 from the natives. Some sickened and sank down by the way, for there was none to help them. Intense misery had made them selfish ; and many a poor wretch was abandoned to his fate, to die alone in the wilderness, or, more probably, to be devoured, while living, by the wild animals which roamed over it. At length, in June, 1542, after somewhat more than a year consumed in their homeward march, the way-worn company came on the elevated plains in the neighbourhood of Quito. But how different their aspect from that which they had exhibited on issuing from the gates of the same capital, two years and a half before, with high romantic hope and in all the pride of military array ! Their horses gone, their arms broken and rusted, the skins of wild animals instead of clothes hanging loosely about their limbs, their long and matted locks streaming wildly down their shoulders, their faces burned and blackened by the tropical sun, their bodies wasted by famine and sorely disfigured by scars, — it seemed as if the charnel-house had given up its dead, as, with uncer- tain step, they glided slowly onwrards like a troop of dismal spectres ! More than half of the four thou- sand Indians who had accompanied the expedition had perished, and of the Spaniards only eighty, and many of these irretrievably broken in consti- tution, returned to Quito.15 15 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Peru, lib. 4, cap. 5. — Gomara, Conq., MS. — Zarate, Conq. del Hist, de las Ind., cap. 143. — Gar- VOL. II. 22 170 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. The few Christian inhabitants of the place, with their wives and children, came out to welcome their countrymen. They ministered to them all the re- lief and refreshment in their power; and, as they listened to the sad recital of their sufferings, they mingled their tears with those of the wanderers. The whole company then entered the capital, where their first act — to their credit be it mentioned — was to go in a body to the church, and offer up thanksgivings to the Almighty for their miraculous preservation through their long and perilous pilgrim- age.16 Such was the end of the expedition to the Amazon ; an expedition which, for its dangers and hardships, the length of their duration, and the constancy with which they were endured, stands, perhaps, unmatched in the annals of American dis- covery. cilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 3, cap. 15. — Herrera, Hist. Ge- neral, dec. 7, lib. 3, cap. 14. The last historian, in dismissing his account of the expedition, passes a panegyric on the courage and constancy of his countrymen, which we must admit to be well deserved. " Finalmente, Gongalo Pigarro entro en el Quito, triunfando del valor, i sufrimiento, i de la con- stancia, recto, e immutable vigor del animo, pues Hombres Huma- nos no se hallan haver tan to sufrido, ni padecido tantas desventuras." Ibid., ubi supra. !6 Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 4, cap. 5. CHAPTER V. THE ALMAGRO FACTION. — THEIR DESPERATE CONDITION. — CON- SPIRACY AGAINST FRANCISCO PIZARRO. — ASSASSINATION OF Pi- ZARRO. ACTS OF THE CONSPIRATORS. PlZARRO's CHARACTER 1541. WHEN Gonzalo Pizarro reached Quito, he re- ceived tidings of an event which showed that his expedition to the Amazon had been even more fatal to his interests than he had imagined. A revolution had taken place during his absence, which had changed the whole condition of things in Peru. In a preceding chapter we have seen, that, when Hernando Pizarro returned to Spain, his brother the marquess repaired to Lima, where he continued to occupy himself with building up his infant capital, and watching over the general interests of the coun- try. While thus employed, he gave little heed to a danger that hourly beset his path, and this, too, in despite of repeated warnings from more circum- spect friends. After the execution of Almagro, his followers, to the number of several hundred, remained scattered through the country; but, however scattered, still united by a common sentiment of indignation against the Pizarros, the murderers, as they re- 172 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. garded them, of their leader. The governor was less the object of these feelings than his brother Hernando, as having been less instrumental in the perpetration of the deed. Under these circum- stances, it was clearly Pizarro's policy to do one of two things ; to treat the opposite faction either as friends, or as open enemies. He might conciliate the most factious by acts of kindness, efface the remembrance of past injury, if he could, by pres- ent benefits ; in short, prove to them that his quarrel had been with their leader, not with them- selves, and that it was plainly for their interest to come again under his banner. This would have been the most politic^ as well as the most magnani- mous course ; and, by augmenting the number of his adherents, would have greatly strengthened his power in the land. But, unhappily, he had not the magnanimity to pursue it. It was not in the nature of a Pizarro to forgive an injury, or the man whom he had injured. As he would not, therefore, try to conciliate Almagro's adherents, it was clearly the governor's policy to regard them as enemies, — not the less so for being in disguise, — and to take such measures as should disqualify them for doing mis- chief. He should have followed the counsel of his more prudent brother Hernando, and distributed them in different quarters, taking care that no great number should assemble at any one point, or, above all, in the neighbourhood of his own residence. But the governor despised the broken followers of Almagro too heartily to stoop to precautionary C«. V.] THE ALMAGRO FACTION. 173 measures. He suffered the son of his rival to re- main in Lima, where his quarters soon became the resort of the disaffected cavaliers. The young man was well known to most of Almagro's soldiers, hav- ing been trained along with them in the camp under his father's eye, and, now that his parent was removed, they naturally transferred their allegiance to the son who survived him. ^, That the young Almagro, however, might be less able to maintain this retinue of unprofitable follow- ers, he was deprived by Pizarro of a great part of his Indians and lands, while he was excluded from the government of New Toledo, which had been settled on him by his father's testament.1 Stripped of all means of support, without office or employ- ment of any kind, the men of Chili, for so Alma- gro's adherents continued to be called, were re- duced to the utmost distress. So poor were they, as is the story of the time, that twelve cavaliers, who lodged in the same house, could muster only one cloak among them all ; and, with the usual feeling of pride that belongs to the poor hidalgo, unwilling to expose their poverty, they wore this cloak by turns, those who had no right to it remaining at home.2 Whether true or not, the anecdote well illus- trates the extremity to which Almagro's faction was reduced. And this distress was rendered yet more galling by the effrontery of their enemies, who, en- 1 Carta de Almagro, MS. 2 Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 8, cap. 6. 174 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. riched by their forfeitures, displayed before their eyes all the insolent bravery of equipage and apparel that could annoy their feelings. Men thus goaded by insult and injury were too dangerous to be lightly regarded. But, although Pizarro received various intimations intended to put him on his guard, he gave no heed to them. " Poor devils ! " he would exclaim, speaking with contempt- uous pity of the men of Chili ; " they have had bad luck enough. We will not trouble them fur- ther."3 And so little did he consider them, that he went freely about, as usual, riding without attend- ants to all parts of the town and to its immediate environs.4 News now reached the colony of the appointment of a judge by the Crown to take cognizance of the affairs of Peru. Pizarro, although alarmed by the intelligence, sent orders to have him well entertained on his landing, and suitable accommodations pre- pared for him on the route. The spirits of Alma- gro's followers were greatly raised by the tidings. They confidently looked to this high functionary for the redress of their wrongs ; and two of their body, clad in suits of mourning, were chosen to go to the north, where the judge was expected to land, and to lay their grievances before him. But months elapsed, and no tidings came of his arrival, till, at length, a vessel, coming into port, an- 3 Gomara, Hist, de las Ind., 4 Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte cap. 144. 2, lib. 3, cap. 6. CH. V.] THEIR DESPERATE CONDITION. 175 nounced that most of the squadron had foundered in the heavy storms on the coast, and that the commis- sioner had probably perished with them. This was disheartening intelligence to the men of Chili, whose " miseries," to use the words of their young leader, " had become too grievous to be borne." 5 Symptoms of disaffection had already begun openly to manifest themselves. The haughty cavaliers did not always doff their bonnets, on meeting the gov- ernor in the street; and on one occasion, three ropes were found suspended from the public gallows, with labels attached to them, bearing the names of Pi- zarro, Velasquez the judge, and Picado the govern- or's secretary.6 This last functionary was peculiarly odious to Almagro and his followers. As his master knew neither how to read nor write, all his commu- nications passed through Picado's hands ; and, as the latter was of a hard and arrogant nature, greatly elated by the consequence which his position gave him, he exercised a mischievous influence on the 5 " My sufferings," says Alma- luntad sirviendole aunque tuviese gro, in his letter to the Royal Au- meritos le destruya y este Picado dience of Panama, " were enough fue causa de que los de Chile to- to unsettle my reason." See his masen mas odiq al marquez por Letter in the original, Appendix, donde le mataron. Porque queria No. 12. este que todos lo reverenciasen, y 6 " Hizo Picado el secreptario los de chile no hazian caso del, y del Marquez mucho daiio a muchos, por esta causa los perseguia este porque el marquez don Francisco mucho, y ansi vinieron a hazer lo Pi.t But no other violence was offered by Rada and his followers than to apprehend a few suspected per- sons, and to seize upon horses and arms wherever they were to be found. The municipality was then summoned to recognize the authority of Almagro; the refractory were ejected without ceremony from their offices, and others of the Chili faction were substituted. The claims of the new aspirant were fully recognized ; and young Almagro, parading the streets on horseback, and escorted by a well-armed body of cavaliers, was proclaimed by sound of trumpet governor and captain-general of Peru. Meanwhile, the mangled bodies of Pizarro and his faithful adherents were left weltering in their blood. Some were for dragging forth the governor's corpse to the market-place, and fixing his head upon a gib- bet. But Almagro was secretly prevailed on to grant the entreaties of Pizarro's friends, and allow his interment. This was stealthily and hastily per- formed, in the fear of momentary interruption. A feithful attendant and his wife, with a few black domestics, wrapped the body in a cotton cloth and removed it to the cathedral. A grave was hastily dug in an obscure corner, the services were hurried through, and, in secrecy, and in darkness dispelled CH. V.] ACTS OF THE CONSPIRATORS. 187 only by the feeble glimmering of a few tapers fur- nished by these humble menials, the remains of Pi- zarro, rolled in their bloody shroud, were consigned to their kindred dust. Such was the miserable end of the Conqueror of Peru, — of the man who but a few hours before had lorded it over the land with as absolute a sway as was possessed by its he- reditary Incas. Cut off in the broad light of day, in the heart of his own capital, in the very midst of those who had been his companions in arms and shared with him his triumphs and his spoils, he per- ished like a wretched outcast. " There was none, even," in the expressive language of the chronicler, " to say, God forgive him ! "18 A few years later, when tranquillity was restored to the country, Pizarro's remains were placed in a sumptuous coffin and deposited under a monument in a conspicuous part of the cathedral. And in 1607, when time had thrown its friendly mantle over the past, and the memory of his errors and his crimes was merged in the consideration of the great services he had rendered to the Crown by the ex- tension of her colonial empire, his bones were re- moved to the new cathedral, and allowed to repose side by side with those of Mendoza, the wise and good viceroy of Peru.19 18 « Murio pidiendo confesion, i Carta del Maestro, Martin de haciendo la Cruz, sin que nadie Arauco, MS. — Carta de Fray dijese, Dios te perdone." Goma- Vicente Valverde, desde Tumbez, ra, Hist, de las Ind., cap. 144. MS. MS/ de Caravantes. — Zarate, 19 " Sus huesos engerrados en Conq. del Peru, lib. 4, cap. 8. — una-caxa guarnecida de terciopelo 188 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. Pizarro was, probably, not far from sixty-five years of age at the time of his death ; though this, it must be added, is but loose conjecture, since there exists no authentic record of the date of his birth.20 He was never married ; but by an Indian princess of the Inca blood, daughter of Atahuallpa and granddaughter of the great Huayna Capac, he had two children, a son and a daughter. Both survived him ; but the son did not live to manhood. Their mother, after Pizarro's death, wedded a Spanish cavalier, named Ampuero, and removed with him to Spain. Her daughter Francisca accompanied her, and was there subsequently married to her uncle Hernando Pizarro, then a prisoner in the Mota del Medina. Neither the title nor estates of the Mar- quess Francisco descended to his illegitimate off- spring. But in the -third generation, in the reign of Philip the Fourth, the title was revived in fa- vor of Don Juan Hernando Pizarro, who, out of gratitude for the services of his ancestor, was created Marquess of the Conquest, Marques de la Con- quista, with a liberal pension from government. His descendants, bearing the same title of nobility, are still to be found, it is said, at Truxillo, in the ancient province of Estremadura, the original birth- place of the Pizarros.21 morado con passamanps de oro que See also the Discurso, Legal y yo he visto." MS. de Caravantes. Politico, annexed by Pizarro y 90 Ante, Book 2, chap. 2, note 1. Orellana to his bulky tome, in 21 MS. de Caravantes. — Quin- which that cavalier urges the claims tana, Espanoles Celebres, torn. II., of Pizarro. It is in the nature of p. 417. a memorial to Philip IV. in behalf CH. V.] ';'•-.* PIZARRO'S CHARACTER. 189 Pizarro's person has been already described. He was tall in stature, well-proportioned, and with a countenance not unpleasing. Bred in camps, with nothing of the polish of a court, he had a soldier- like bearing, and the air of one accustomed to com- mand. But though not polished, there was no em- barrassment or rusticity in his address, which, where it served his purpose, could be plausible and even insinuating. The proof of it is the favorable im- pression made by him, on presenting himself, after his second expedition — stranger as he was to all its forms and usages — at the punctilious court of Castile. Unlike many of his countrymen, he had no pas- sion for ostentatious dress, which he regarded as an incumbrance. The costume which he most affected on public occasions was a black cloak, with a white hat, and shoes of the same color ; the last, it is said, being in imitation of the Great Captairr, whose character he had early learned to admire in Italy, but to which his own, certainly, bore very faint resemblance.22 of Pizarro's descendants, in which viceregal palace at Lima, repre- the writer, after setting forth the sents him in a citizen's dress, with manifold services of the Conqueror, a sable cloak, — the capa y espada shows how little his posterity had of a Spanish gentleman. Each profited by the magnificent grants panel in the spacious sola de los conferred on him by the Crown. Vireyes was reserved for the por- The argument of the Royal Conn- trait of a viceroy. The long file seller was not without its effect. is complete, from Pizarro to Pezue- 22 Gomara, Hist, de las Ind., la; and it is a curious fact, noticed cap. 144. — Zarate,Conq. del Peru, by Stevenson, that the last panel lib. 4, cap. 9. was exactly filled when the reign The portrait of Pizarro, in the of the viceroys was abruptly ter- 190 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boon IV. He was temperate in eating, drank sparingly, and usually rose an hour before dawn. He was punctu- al in attendance to business, and shrunk from no toil. He had, indeed, great powers of patient en- durance. Like most of his nation, he was fond of play, and cared little for the quality of those with whom he played ; though, when his antagonist could not afford to lose, he would allow himself, it is said, to be the loser ; a mode of conferring an obligation much commended by a Castilian writer, for its del- icacy.23 Though avaricious, it was in order to spend and not to hoard. His ample treasures, more am- ple than those, probably, that ever before fell to the lot of an adventurer,24 were mostly dissipated in his enterprises, his architectural works, and schemes of public improvement, which, in a coun- try where gold and silver might be said to have lost their value from their abundance, absorbed an incredible amount of money. While he regarded the whole country, in a manner, as his own, and distributed it freely among his captains, it is certain that the princely grant of a territory with twenty thousand vassals, made to him by the Crown, was initiated by the Revolution. (Resi- ^ Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte dence in South America, voj. I. 2, lib. 3, cap. 9. p. 228.) It is a singular coinci- a4 " Hallo, i tuvo mas Oro, i dence that the same thing should Plata, que otro ningun Espanol de have occurred at Venice, where, quantos han pasado a Indias, ni tf my memory serves me, the last que ninguno de quantos Capitanes niche reserved for the effigies of its han sido por el Mundo." Gomara, doges was just filled, when the Hist, de las Ind., cap. 144. ancient aristocracy was overturned. CH. V.] PIZARRO'S CHARACTER. 191 never carried into effect ; nor did his heirs ever reap the benefit of it.25 To a man possessed of the active energies of Pi- zarro, sloth was the greatest evil. The excitement of play was in a manner necessary to a spirit accus- tomed to the habitual stimulants of war and adven- ture. , His uneducated mind had no relish for more refined, intellectual recreation. The deserted found- ling had neither been taught to read nor write. This has been disputed by some, but it is attested by unexceptionable authorities.26 Montesinos says, indeed, that Pizarro, on his first voyage, tried to learn to read ; but the impatience of his temper prevented it, and he contented himself with learn- ing to sign his name.27 But Montesinos was not a contemporary historian. Pedro Pizarro, his com- panion in arms, expressly tells us he could neither read nor write ; ^ and Zarate, another contempo- 25 MS. de Caravantes. — Pi- zarro y Orellana, Discurso Leg. y . Pol., ap. Varones Ilust. Gonzalo Pizarro, when taken prisoner by ' President Gasca, challenged him to point out any quarter of the coun- try in which the royal grant had been carried into effect by a specific assignment of land to his brother. See Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 5, cap. 36. 26 Even so experienced a person as Mufioz seems to have fallen into this error. On one of Pizarro 's letters 1 find the following copy of an autograph memorandum by this eminent scholar : — Carta de Fran- cisco Pizarro, su letra i buena letra. 27 " En este viage trato Pizarro de aprender a leer ; no le dio su viveza lugar a ello ; contentose solo con saber firmar, de lo que se veia Almagro, y decia, que firmar sin saber leer era lo mismo que recibir herida, sin poder darla. En adelante firmo siempre Pizarro por si, y por Almagro su Secretario." Montesinos, Annales, MS., afio 1525. 28 " Porque el marquez don Francesco Picarro como no savia le* ni escrivir." Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. 192 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boo* IV. rary, well acquainted with the Conquerors, confirms this statement, and adds, that Pizarro could not so much as sign his name.29 This was done by his secretary — Picado, in his latter years — while the governor merely made the customary rubrica or flourish at the sides of his name. This is the case with the instruments I have examined, in which his signature, written probably by his secretary, or his title of Marques, in later life substituted for his name, is garnished with a flourish at the ends, exe- cuted in as bungling a manner as if done by the hand of a ploughman. Yet we must not estimate this deficiency as we should in this period of general illumination, — general, at least, in our own fortu- nate country. Reading and writing, so universal now, in the beginning of the sixteenth century might be 'regarded in the light of accomplishments ; and all who have occasion to consult the autograph memorials of that time will find the execution of them, even by persons of the highest rank, too often such as would do little credit to a schoolboy of the present day. Though bold in action and not easily turned from his purpose, Pizarro was slow in arriving at a decis- 29 " Siendo personas," says the todos los Despachos, que hacia, author, speaking- both of Pizarro asi de Governacion, como de Re- and Almagro, "no solamente, no partimientos de Indies, libraba ha- leidas, pero que de todo punto no ciendo el dos senales, en medio sabian leer, ni aun firmar, que en de las quales Antonio Picado, su ellos fue cosa de gran defecto. Secretario, firmaba el nombre de Fue el Marques tan con- FrangiscoPigarro." Zarate, Conq. fiado de sus Criados, i Amigos, que del Peru, lib. 4, cap. 9. CH.-V.] PIZARRO'S CHARACTER. 193 ion. This gave him an appearance of irresolution foreign to his character.30 Perhaps the conscious- ness of this led him to adopt the custom of saying " No," at first, to applicants for favor ; and after- wards, at leisure, to revise his judgment, and grant what seemed to him expedient. He took the op- posite course from his comrade Almagro, who, it was observed, generally said " Yes," but too often failed to keep his promise. This was characteristic of the careless and easy nature of the latter, gov- erned by impulse rather than principle.31 It is hardly necessary to speak of the courage of a man pledged to such a career as that of Pizarro. Courage, indeed, was a cheap quality among the Spanish adventurers, for danger was their element. But he possessed something higher than mere animal courage, in that constancy of purpose which was rooted too deeply in his nature to be shaken by the wildest storms of fortune. It was this inflexible constancy which formed the key to his character, and constituted the secret of his success. A re- markable evidence of it was given in his first expe- dition, among the mangroves and dreary marshes of 30 This tardiness of resolve has do algo le pedian dezir sierapre de even led Herrera to doubt his reso- no. esto dezia el que hazia por no lution altogether ; a judgment cer- faltar su palabra, y no obstahte que tainly contradicted by the whole dezia no, correspondia con hazer lo tenor of his history. " Porque que le pedian no aviendo inconve- aunque era astuto, i recatado, por nimente Don Diego de Al- ia maior parte fue de animo sus- magro hera a la contra que a todos penso, i no mui resolute." Hist, dezia si, y con pocos lo cumplia." General, dec. 5, lib. 7, cap. 13. Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., 31 " Tenia por costumbre de quan- MS . VOL. II. 25 - 194 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boos IV. Choco. He saw his followers pining around him under the blighting malaria, wasting before an invis- ible enemy, and unable to strike a stroke in their own defence. Yet his spirit did not yield, nor did he falter in his enterprise. There is something oppressive to the imagination in this war against nature. In the struggle of man against man, the spirits are raised by a contest con- ducted on equal terms ; but in a war with the ele- ments, we feel, Uiat, however bravely we may con- tend, we can have no power to control. Nor are we cheered on by the prospect of glory in such, a contest ; for, in the capricious estimate of human glory, the silent endurance of privations, however painful, is little, in comparison with the ostentatious trophies of victory. The laurel of the hero — alas for humanity that it should be so ! — grows best on the battle-field. This inflexible spirit of Pizarro was shown still more strongly, when, in the little island of Gallo, he drew the line on the sand, which was to separate him and his handful of followers from their country and from, civilized man. He trusted that his own constancy would give strength to the feeble, and rally brave hearts around him for the prosecution of his enterprise. ' He looked with confidence to the future, and he did not miscalculate. This was heroic, and wanted only a nobler motive for its object to constitute the true moral sublime. Yet the same feature in his character* was dis- played in a manner scarcely less remarkable, when, CH. V.] PIZARRO'S CHARACTER. 195 landing on the coast and ascertaining the real strength and civilization of the Incas, he persisted in marching into the interior at the head of a force of less than two hundred men. In this he undoubt- edly proposed to himself the example of Cortes, so contagious to the adventurous spirits of that day, and especially to Pizarro, engaged, as he was, in a similar enterprise. Yet the hazard assumed by Pizarro was far greater than that of the Conqueror of Mexico, whose force was nearly three times as large, while the terrors of the Inca name — how- ever justified by the result — were as widely spread as those of the Aztecs. It was doubtless in imitation of the same capti- vating model, that Pizarro planned the seizure of Atahuallpa. But the situations of the two Spanish captains were as dissimilar as the manner in which their acts of violence were conducted. The wanton massacre of the Peruvians resembled that perpe- trated by Alvarado in Mexico, and might have been attended with consequences as disastrous, if the Peruvian character had been as fierce as that of the Aztecs.32 But the blow which roused the latter to madness broke the tamer spirits of the Peruvians. It was a bold stroke, which left so much to chance, that it scarcely merits the name of policy. When Pizarro landed in the country, he found it distracted by a contest for the crown. It would seem to have been for his interest to play off one 32 See Conquest of Mexico, Book 4, chap 8. 196 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. party against the other, throwing his own weight into the scale that suited him. Instead of this, he resort- ed to an act of audacious violence which crushed them both at a blow. His subsequent career afford- ed no scope for the profound policy displayed by Cortes, when he gathered conflicting nations under his banner, and directed them against a common foe. Still less did he have the opportunity of dis- playing the tactics and admirable strategy of his ri- val. . Cortes conducted his military operations on the scientific principles of a great captain at the head of a powerful host. Pizarro appears only as an adventurer, a fortunate knight-errant. By one bold stroke, he broke the spell which had so long held the land under the dominion of the Incas. The spell was broken, and the airy fabric of their empire, built on the superstition of ages, vanished at a touch. This was good fortune, rather than the result of policy. Pizarro was eminently perfidious. Yet nothing is more opposed to sound policy. One act of perfidy fully established becomes the ruin of its author. The man who relinquishes confidence in his good faith gives up the best basis for future operations. Who will knowingly build on a quicksand ? By his per- fidious treatment of Almagro, Pizarro alienated the minds of the Spaniards. By his perfidious treat- ment of Atahuallpa, and subsequently of the Inca Manco, he disgusted the Peruvians. The name of Pizarro became a by-word for perfidy. Alma- gro took his revenge in a civil war ; Manco in an CH. V.] PIZARRO'S CHARACTER. 197 insurrection which nearly cost Pizarro his domin- ion. The civil war terminated in a conspiracy which cost him his life. Such were the fruits of his policy. Pizarro may be regarded as a cunning man ; but not, as he has been often eulogized by his coun- trymen, as a politic one. When Pizarro obtained possession of Cuzco, he found a country well advanced in the arts of civili- zation ; institutions under which the people lived in tranquillity and personal safety ; the mountains and the uplands whitened with flocks ; the valleys teeming with the fruits of a scientific husbandry; the granaries and warehouses filled to overflowing ; the whole land rejoicing in its abundance ; and the character of the nation, softened under the influence of the mildest and most innocent form of supersti- tion, well prepared for the reception of a higher and a Christian civilization. But, far from introducing this, Pizarro delivered up the conquered races to his brutal soldiery ; the sacred cloisters were abandoned to their lust ; the towns and villages were given up to pillage ; the wretched natives were parcelled out like slaves, to toil for their conquerors in the mines ; the flocks were scattered, and wantonly destroyed ; the granaries were dissipated ; the beautiful con- trivances for the more perfect culture of the soil were suffered to fall into decay; the paradise was converted into a desert. Instead of profiting by the ancient forms of civilization, Pizarro preferred to efface every vestige of them from the land, and on :heir ruin to erect the institutions of his own coun- « . • 198 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. try. Yet these institutions did little for the poor Indian, held in iron bondage. It was little to him that the shores of the Pacific were studded with rising communities and cities, the marts of a flour- ishing commerce. He had no share in the goodly heritage. He was an alien in the land of his fathers. The religion of the Peruvian, which directed him to the worship of that glorious luminary which is the best representative of the might and beneficence of the Creator, is perhaps the purest form of super- stition that has existed among men. Yet it was much, that, under the new order of things, and through the benevolent zeal of the missionaries, some glimmerings of a nobler faith were permitted to dawn on his darkened soul. Pizarro, himself, cannot be charged with manifesting any overween- ing solicitude for the propagation of the Faith. He was no bigot, like Cortes. Bigotry is the perver- sion of the religious principle ; but the principle itself was wanting in Pizarro. The conversion of the heathen was a predominant motive with Cortes in his expedition. It was not a vain boast. He would have sacrificed his life for it at any time ; and more than once, by his indiscreet zeal, he actually did place his life and the success of his enterprise in jeopardy. It was his great purpose to purify the land from the brutish abominations of the Az- tecs, by substituting the religion of Jesus. This gave to his expedition the character of a crusade. It furnished the best apology for the Conquest, CH. V.] PIZARRO'S CHARACTER. JI^Il 199 and does more than all other considerations towards enlisting our sympathies on the side of the con- querors. But Pizarro's ruling motives, so far as they can be scanned by human judgment, were avarice and ambition. The good missionaries, indeed, fol- lowed in his train to scatter the seeds of spiritual truth, and the Spanish government, as usual, di- rected its beneficent legislation to the conversion of the natives. But the moving power with Pizarro and his followers was the lust of gold. This was the real stimulus to their toil, the price of perfidy, the true guerdon of their victories. This gave a base and mercenary character to their enterprise ; and when we contrast the ferocious cupidity of the conquerors with the mild and inoffensive manners of the conquered, our sympathies, the sympathies even of the Spaniard, are necessarily thrown into the scale of the Indian.33 But as no picture is without its lights, we must not, in justice to Pizarro, dwell exclusively on the darker features of his portrait. There was no one 33 The following vigorous lines Not to be wearied, not to be deterred, of Sorthey condense, in a small ^e3^^±^m compass, the most remarkable traits Slew or enslaved its unoffending sons, of Pizarro. The poet's epitaph And wealth and power' and fame were his may certainly be acquitted of the , Awards. J H There is another world, beyond the grave, imputation, generally well deserved, According to their deeds where men are of flattery towards the subject of it. judged. O Reader ! if thy daily bread be earned "FOR A COLUMN AT TRUXILLO. By daily labor, — yea, however low, " Pizarro here was born ; a greater name However wretched, be thy lot assigned, The list of Glory boasts not. Toil and Pain, Thank thou, with deepest gratitude, the God Famine, and hostile Elements, and Hosts Who made thee, that thou art not such as Embattled, failed to check him in his course, he. " , * 200 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boos IV. of her sons to whom Spain was under larger obli- gations for extent of empire ; for his hand won for her the richest of the Indian jewels that once spar- kled in her imperial diadem. When we contemplate the perils he braved, the sufferings he patiently endured, the incredible obstacles he overcame, the magnificent results he effected with his single arm, as it were, unaided by the government, — though neither a good, nor a great man in the highest sense of that term, it is impossible not to regard him as a very extraordinary one. Nor can we fairly omit to notice, in extenuation of his errors, the circumstances of his early life; for, like Almagro, he was the son of sin and sor- row, early cast upon the world to seek his fortunes as he might. In his young and tender age he was to take the impression of those into whose society he was thrown. And when was it the lot of the needy outcast to fall into that of the wise and the virtuous ? His lot was cast among the licentious inmates of a camp, the school of rapine, whose only law was the sword, and who looked on the wretched Indian and his heritage as their rightful spoil. Who does not shudder at the thought of what his own fate might have been, trained in such a school ? The amount of crime does not necessarily show the criminality of the agent. History, indeed, is con- cerned^ with the former, that it may be recorded as a warning to mankind ; but it is He alone who knowreth the heart, the strength of the temptation, and the means of resisting it, that can determine the measure of the guilt. CHAPTER VI. MOVEMENTS OF THE CONSPIRATORS. — ADVANCE OF VACA DE CASTRO — PROCEEDINGS OF ALMAGRO. — PROGRESS OF THE GOVERNOR. - — THE FORCES APPROACH EACH OTHER. — BLOODY PLAINS OF CHU- PAS. — CONDUCT OF VACA DE CASTRO. 1541 — 1543. THE first step of the conspirators, after securing possession of the capital, was to send to the dif- ferent cities, proclaiming the revolution which had taken place, and demanding the recognition of the young Almagro as governor of Peru. Where the summons was accompanied by a military force, as at Truxillo and Arequipa, it was obeyed without much cavil. But in other cities a colder assent was given, and in some the requisition was treated with con- tempt. In Cuzco, the place of most importance next to Lima, a considerable number of the Alma- gro faction secured the ascendency of their party ; and such of the magistracy as resisted were ejected from their offices to make room for others of a more accommodating temper. But the loyal inhabitants of the city, dissatisfied with this proceeding, privately sent to one of Pizarro's captains, named Alvarez de Holguin, who lay with a considerable force in the neighbourhood ; and that officer, entering the place, VOL. n. 26 f 202 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. soon dispossessed the new dignitaries of their hon- ors, and restored the ancient capital to its alle- giance. The conspirators experienced a still more deter- mined opposition from Alonso de Alvarado, one of the principal captains of Pizarro, — defeated, as the reader will remember, by the elder Almagro at the bridge of Abancay, — and now lying in the north with a corps of about two hundred men, as good troops as any in the land. That officer, on receiving tidings of his generaPs assassination, instantly wrote to the Licentiate Vaca de Castro, advising him of the state of affairs in Peru, and urging him to quick- en his march towards the south.1 This functionary had been sent out by the Span- ish Crown, as noticed in a preceding chapter, to cooperate with Pizarro in restoring tranquillity to the country, with authority to assume the govern- ment himself, in case of that commander's death. After a long and tempestuous voyage, he had land- ed, in the spring of 1541, at the port of Buena Ventura, and, disgusted with the dangers of the sea, preferred to continue his wearisome journey by land. But so enfeebled was he by the hardships he had undergone, that it was full three months before he reached Popayan, where he received the astounding tidings of the death of Pizarro. This was the 1 pirate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 4, del Maestro, Martin de Arauco, cap. 13, — Herrera, Hist. General, MS. — Carta de Fray Vicente Val- dec. 6, lib. 10, cap. 7. — Declara- verde, desde Tumbez, MS. cion.de Uscategui, MS. — Carta CH. VI.] ADVANCE OF VACA DE CASTRO. 203 contingency which had been provided for, with such judicious forecast, in his instructions. Yet he was sorely perplexed by the difficulties of his situation. He was a stranger in the land, with a very imperfect knowledge of the country, without an armed force to support him, without even the military science which might be supposed necessary to avail himself of it. He knew nothing of the degree of Almagro's influence, or of the extent to which the insurrection had spread, — nothing, in short, of the dispositions of the people among whom he was cast. \o' In such an emergency, a feebler spirit might have listened to the counsels of those who advised to return to Panama, and stay there until he had mus- tered a sufficient force to enable him to take the field against the insurgents with advantage. But the courageous heart of Vaca de Castro shrunk from a step which would proclaim his incompetency to the task assigned him. He had confidence in his own resources, and in the virtue of the commission under which he acted. He relied, too, on the ha- bitual loyalty of the Spaniards ; and, after mature deliberation, he determined to go forward, and trust to events for accomplishing the objects .of his mis- sion. He was confirmed in this purpose by the advices he now received from Alvarado ; and without longer delay, he continued his march towards Quito. Here he was well received by Gonzalo Pizarro's lieuten- ant, who had charge of the place during his com- 204 CIVIL WARS OF- THE CONQUERORS. [Boon IV. mander's absence on his expedition to the Amazon. The licentiate was also joined by Benalcazar, the conqueror of Quito, who brought a small reinforce- ment, and offered personally to assist him in the prosecution of his enterprise. He now displayed the royal commission, empowering him, on Pizarro's death, to assume the government. That contingen- cy had arrived, and Vaca de Castro declared his purpose to exercise the authority conferred on him. At the same time, he sent emissaries to the princi- pal cities, requiring their obedience to him as the lawful representative of the Crown, — taking care to employ discreet persons on the mission, whose character would have weight with the citizens. He then continued his march slowly towards the south.2 He was willing by his deliberate movements to give time for his summons to take effect, and for the fermentation caused by the late extraordinary events to subside. He reckoned confidently on the loyalty which made the Spaniard unwilling, unless in cases of the last extremity, to come into collision with the royal authority ; and, however much this 2 Herrera, Hist. General, dec. country known as New Toledo, 6, lib. 10, cap. 4. — Garta de Ben- and bequeathed to him by his father alcazar al Emperador, desdeOali, " Porque yo le avise muchas veces MS., 20 Septiembre, 1542. no entrase en la tierra corao Go- Benalcazar urged Vaca de Castro vernador, sino como Juez de Y. M. to assume only the title of Judge, que venia a desagraviar a los agra- and not that of Governor, which viados, porque todos lo rescibirian would conflict with the pretensions de buena gana." Ubi supra, ^f Almagro to that part of the . .""'• '•'.'• CH. VI.] PROCEEDINGS OF ALMAGRO. 205 popular sentiment might be disturbed by temporary gusts of passion, he trusted to the habitual current of their feelings for giving the people a right di- rection. In this he did not miscalculate ; for so deep-rooted was the principle of loyalty in the an- cient Spaniard, that ages of oppression and misrule could alone have induced him to shake off his alle- giance. Sad it is, but not strange, that the length of time passed under a bad government has not qualified him for devising a good one. . While these events were passing in the north, Almagro's faction at Lima was daily receiving new accessions of strength. For, in addition to those who, from the first, had been avowedly of his fa- ther's party, there were many others who, from some- cause or other, had conceived a disgust for Pizarro, and who now willingly enlisted under the banner of the chief that had overthrown him. The first step of the young general, or rather of Rada, who directed his movements, was to secure the necessary supplies for the troops, most of whom, having long been in indigent circumstances, were wholly unprepared for service. Funds to a consider- able amount were raised, by seizing on the moneys of the Crown in the hands of the treasurer. Pi- zarro's secretary, Picado, was also drawn from his. prison, and interrogated as to the place where his master's treasures were deposited. But, although put to the torture, he would not — or, as is probable, could not — give information on the subject; and the conspirators, who had a long arrear of injuries to 206 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boon IV. settle with him, closed their proceedings by publicly beheading him in the great square of Lima.3 Valverde, Bishop of Cuzco, as he himself assures us, vainly interposed in his behalf. It is singular, that, the last time this fanatical prelate appears on the stage, it should be in the benevolent character of a supplicant for mercy.4 Soon afterwards, he was permitted, with the judge, Velasquez, and some other adherents of Pizarro, to embark from the port of Lima. We have a letter from him, dated at Tumbez, in November, 1541 ; almost immediately after which he fell into the hands of the Indians, and with his companions was massacred at Puna. A violent death not unfrequently closed the stormy career of the American adventurer. Valverde was a Dominican friar, and, like Father Olmedo in the suite of Cortes, had been by his commander's side throughout the whole, of his expedition. But he did not always, like the good Olmedo, use his in- fluence to stay the uplifted hand of the warrior. At least, this was not the mild aspect in which he presented himself at the terrible massacre of Caxa- malca. Yet some contemporary accounts represent s Pedro Pizarro,- Descub. y da e a todos sus capitanes, i les Conq., MS. — Carta de Barrio puse delante el servicio de Dios i Nuevo, MS. — Carta de Fray de S. M. i que bastase en lo fecho Vicente Valverde, desde Tumbez, por respeto de Dios, humillandome MS. a sus pies porque no lo matasen : 4 " Siendo informado que anda- i no basto que luego dende a pocos van ordenando la muerte a Antonio dias lo sacaron a la plaza desta Picado secretario del Marques que cibdad donde le cortaron la ca- tenian preso, fui a Don Diego e a beza." Carta de Fray Vicente de su Capitan General Joan de Herra- Valverde, desde Tumbez, MS. CH. VI.] PROCEEDINGS OF ALMAGRO. 207 him, after he had been installed in his episcopal office, as unwearied in his labors to convert the natives, and to ameliorate their condition ; and his own correspondence with the government, after that period, shows great solicitude for these praiseworthy objects. Trained in the severest school of monastic discipline, which too often closes the heart against the common charities of life, he could not, like the benevolent Las Casas, rise so far above its fanatical tenets as to regard the heathen as his brother, while in the state of infidelity ; and, in the true spirit of that school, he doubtless conceived that the sanctity of the end justified the means, however revolting in themselves. Yet the same man, who thus freely shed the blood of the poor native to secure the triumph of his faith, would doubtless have as freely poured out his oWn in its defence. The character was no uncommon one in the sixteenth century.5 Almagro's followers, having supplied themselves with funds, made as little scruple to appropriate to their own use such horses and arms, of every de- scription, as they could find in the city. And this they did with the less reluctance, as the inhabitants for the most part testified no good-will to their 5 " Quel Senor obispo Fray paz e sosiego destos reynos, sino a Vicente de Balverde como persona sug intereses propios dando ma] que jamas ha tenido fin ni zelo al ejemplo a todos." (Carta de Al- servicio de Dios ni de S. M. ni magro a la Audiencia de Panama, menos en la conversion de los na- MS., 8 de Nov. 1541.) The writer, turales en los poner e dotrinar en it must be remembered, was his las cosas de nuestra santa fee ca- personal enemy. tholica, ni menos en entender en la 208 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boos IV. cause. While thus employed, Almagro received in- telligence that Holguin had left Cuzco with a force of near three hundred men, with which he was preparing to effect a junction with Alvarado in the north. It was important to Almagro's success that he should defeat this junction. If to procrastinate was the policy of Vaca de Castro, it was clearly that of Almagro to quicken operations, and to bring matters to as speedy an issue as possible ; to march at once against Holguin, whom he might ex- pect easily to overcome with his superior numbers ; then to follow up the stroke by the still easier defeat of Alvarado, when the new governor would be, in a manner, at his mercy. It would be easy to beat these several bodies in detail, which, once united, would present formidable odds. Almagro and his party had already arrayed themselves against the government by a proceeding too atrocious, and which struck too directly at the royal authority, for its perpetrators to flatter themselves with the hopes of pardon. Their only chance was boldly to follow up the blow, and, by success, to place themselves in so formidable, an attitude as to excite the apprehen- sions of government. The dread of its too potent vassal might extort terms that would never be con- ceded to his prayers. But Almagro and his followers shrunk from this open collision with the Crown. They had taken up rebellion because it lay in their path, not be- cause they had wished it. They had meant only to avenge their personal wrongs on Pizarro, and not to Cfl. VI.] PROCEEDINGS OF ALMAGRO. 209 defy the royal authority. When, therefore, some of the more resolute, who followed things fearlessly to their consequences, proposed to march at once against Vaca de Castro, and, by striking at the head, settle the contest by a blow, it was almost universally rejected ; and it was not till after long debate that it was finally determined to move against Holguin, and cut off his communication with Alonso de Alvarado. Scarcely had Almagro commenced his march on Xauxa, where he proposed to give battle to his ene- my, than he met wi,th a severe misfortune in the death of Juan de Rada. He was a man somewhat advanced in years ; and the late exciting scenes, in which he had taken the principal part, had been too much for a frame greatly shattered by a life of ex- traordinary hardship. He was thrown into a fever, of which he soon after died. By his death, Alma- gro sustained an inestimable loss ; for, besides his devoted attachment to his young leader, he was, by his large experience, and his cautious though cour- ageous character, better qualified than any other cavalier in the army to conduct him safely through the stormy sea on which he had led him to embark. Among the cavaliers of highest consideration af- ter Rada's death, the two most aspiring were Chris- toval de Sotelo, and Garcia de Alvarado ; both pos- sessed of considerable military talent, but the latter marked by a bold, presumptuous manner, which might remind one of his illustrious namesake, who achieved much higher renown under the banner of VOL. n. 27 210 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boox IV. Cortes. Unhappily, a jealousy grew up between these two officers; that jealousy, so common among the Spaniards, that it may seem a national charac- teristic ; an impatience of equality, founded on a false principle of honor, which has ever been the fruitful source of faction among them, whether under a monarchy or a republic. This was peculiarly unfortunate for Almagro, whose inexperience led him to lean for support on others, and who, in the present distracted state of his council, knew scarcely where to turn for it. In the delay occasioned by these dissensions, his little army did not reach the valley of Xauxa till after the enemy had passed it. Almagro followed close, leav- ing behind his baggage and artillery that he might move the lighter. But the golden opportunity was lost. The rivers, swollen by autumnal rains, im- peded his pursuit ; and, though his light troops came up with a few stragglers of the rear-guard, Holguin succeeded in conducting his forces through the dan- gerous passes of the mountains, and in effecting a junction with Alonso de Alvarado, near the northern seaport of Huaura. Disappointed in his object, Almagro prepared to march on Cuzco, — the capital, as he regarded it, of his own jurisdiction, — to get possession of that city, and there make preparations to meet his adver- sary in the field. Sotelo was sent forward with a small corps in advance. He experienced no oppo- sition from the now defenceless citizens ; the gov- ernment of the place was again restored to the & CH. VI.] PROCEEDINGS OF ALMAGRO. 211 hands of the men of Chili, and their young leader soon appeared at the head of his battalions, and established his winter-quarters in the Inca capital. Here, the jealousy of the rival captains broke out into an open feud. It was ended by the death of Sotelo, treacherously assassinated in his own apart- ment by Garcia de Alvarado. Almagro, greatly out- raged by this atrocity, was the more indignant, as he felt himself too weak to punish the offender. He smothered his resentment for the present, affecting to treat the dangerous officer with more distinguished favor. But Alvarado was not the dupe of this spe- cious behaviour. He felt that he had forfeited the confidence of his commander. In revenge, he laid a plot to betray him ; and Almagro, driven to the necessity of self-defence, imitated the example of his officer, by entering his house with a party of armed men, who, laying yiolent hands on the in- surgent, slew him on the spot.6 This irregular proceeding was followed by the best consequences. The seditious schemes of Alva- rado perished with him. The seeds of insubordina- tion were eradicated, and from that moment Alma- gro experienced only implicit obedience and the most loyal support from his followers. From that hour, too, his own character seemed to be changed ; he relied far less on others than on himself, and de- 6 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y — Carta de Barrio Nuevo, MS. — Conq., MS. — Zarate, Conq. del Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, Peru, lib. 4, cap. 10-14. — Go- lib. 10, cap. 13; dec. 7, lib. 3, mara, Hist, delaslnd., cap. 147. cap. 1, 5. — Declaration de Uscategui, MS. 212 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boas IV. veloped resources not to have been anticipated in one of his years ; for he had hardly reached the age of twenty-two.7 From this time he displayed an energy and forecast, which proved him, in despite of his youth, not unequal to the trying emergencies of the situation in which it was his unhappy lot to be placed. He instantly set about providing for the wants of his men, and strained every nerve to get them hi good fighting order for the approaching campaign. He replenished his treasury with a large amount of silver which he drew from the mines of La Plata. Saltpetre, obtained in abundance in the neighbour- hood of Cuzco, furnished the material for gun- powder. He caused cannon, some of large dimen- sions, to be cast under the superintendence of Pedro de Candia, the Greek, who, it may be remembered, had first come into the country with Pizarro, and who, with a number of his countrymen, — Levan- tines, as they were called, — was well acquainted with this manufacture. Under their care, fire-arms were made, together with cuirasses and helmets, in which silver was mingled with copper,8 and of so excellent a quality, that they might vie, says an old 7 " Hic.0 mas que su edad re- regido, demas de esto, todas las queria, porque seria de edad de annas de la Tierra ; de manera, veinte i dos aBos." Zarate, Conq. que el que menos Armas tenia del Peru, lib. 4, cap. 20. entre su Gente, era Cota, i Cora- 8 " Y demas de esto hieo armas cinas, 6 Coselete, i Celadas de la para la Gente de su Real, que no mesma Pasta, que los Indies hacen las, tenia, de pasta de Plata, i Co- diestramente, por muestras de las bre, mezclado, de que salen mui de Milan." Zarate, Conq. del buenos Coseletes : haviendo cor- Peru, lib. 4, cap. 14. C«. VI.] PROCEEDINGS OF ALMAGRO. 213 soldier of the time, with those from the workshops of Milan.9 Almagro received a seasonable supply, moreover, from a source scarcely to have been ex- pected. This was from Manco, the wandering Inca, who, detesting the memory of Pizarro, transferred to the young Almagro the same friendly feelings which he had formerly borne to his father ; height- ened, it may be, by the consideration that Indian blood flowed in the veins of the young commander. From this quarter Almagro obtained a liberal supply of swords, spears, shields, and arms and armour of every description, chiefly taken by the Inca at the memorable siege of Cuzco. He also received the gratifying assurance, that the latter would support him with a detachment of native troops when he opened the campaign. Before making a final appeal to arms, however, Almagro resolved to try the effect of negotiation with the new governor. In the spring, or early in the summer, of 1542, he sent an embassy to the lat- ter, then at Lima, in which he deprecated the ne- cessity of taking arms against an officer of the Crown. His only desire, he said, was to vindicate his own rights ; to secure the possession of New Toledo, the province bequeathed to him by his father, and from which he had been most unjustly excluded by Pizarro. He did not dispute the gov- ernor's authority over New Castile, as the country 9 " Hombres de armas con tan tura Beltran al Emperador, MS., buenas celadas borgofiegas como se desde Vilcas, 8 Octubre, 1542. hacen en Milan." Carta de Yen- '^L 214 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV was designated which had been assigned to the marquess ; and he concluded by proposing that each party should remain within his respective territory until the determination of the Court of Castile could be made known to them. To this application, couched in respectful terms, Almagro received no answer. Frustrated in his hopes of a peaceful accommoda- tion, the young captain now saw that nothing was left but the arbitrament of arms. Assembling his troops, preparatory to his departure from the capital, he made them a brief address. He protested that the step which he and his brave companions were about to take was not an act of rebellion against the Crown. It was forced on them by the conduct of the governor himself. The commission of that officer gave him no authority over the territory of New Toledo, settled on Almagro's father, and by his father bequeathed to him. If Vaca de Castro, by exceeding the limits of his authority, drove him to hostilities, the blood spilt in the quarrel would lie on the head of that commander, not on his. " In the assassination of Pizarro," he continued, c.« we took that justice into our own hands which elsewhere was denied us. It is the same now, in our contest with the royal governor. We are as true-hearted and loyal subjects of the Crown as he is." And he concluded by invoking his soldiers to stand by him heart and hand in the approaching contest, in which they were all equally interested with himself. The appeal was not made to an insensible audi- CH. VI.] PROCEEDINGS OF ALMAGRO. 215 ence. There were few among them who did not feel that their fortunes were indissolubly connected with those of their commander ; and while they had little to expect from the austere character of the governor, they were warmly attached to the per- son of their young chief, who, with all the popu- lar qualities of his father, excited additional sympa- thy from the circumstances of his age and his for- lorn condition. Laying their hands on the cross, placed on an altar raised for the purpose, the officers and soldiers severally swore to brave every peril with Almagro, and remain true to him to the last. In point of numbers, his forces had not greatly strengthened since his departure from Lima. He mustered but little more than five hundred in all ; but among them were his father's veterans, well seasoned by many an Indian campaign. He had about two hundred horse, many of them clad uv complete mail, a circumstance not too common in these wars, where a stuffed doublet of cotton was often the only panoply of the warrior. His infantry, formed of pikemen and arquebusiers, was excellently armed. But his strength lay in his heavy ordnance, consisting of sixteen pieces, eight large and eight smaller guns, or falconets, as they were called, forming, says one who saw it, a beautiful park of ar- tillery, that would have made a brave show on the citadel of Burgos.10 The little army, in short, 10 "El artilleria hera suficiente 38 de la informacion hecha en el para hazer bateria en el Castillo de Cuzco en 1543, a favor de Vaca de Burgos." Dicho del Capitan Fran- Castro, MS. cisco de Carvajal sobre la pregunta 216 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. though not imposing from its numbers, was under as good discipline, and as well appointed, as any that ever fought on the fields of Peru ; much better than any which Almagro's own father or Pizarro ever led into the field and won their conquests with. Putting himself at the head of his gallant company, the chieftain sallied forth from the walls of Cuzco about midsummer, in 1542, and directed his march towards the coast in expectation of meeting the enemy.11 While the events detailed in the preceding pages were passing, Vaca de Castro, whom we left at Quito in the preceding year, was advancing slowly towards the south. His first act, after leaving that city, showed his resolution to enter into no compro- mise with the assassins of Pizarro. Benalcazar, the distinguished officer whom I have mentioned as having early given in his adherence to him, had pro- tected one of the principal conspirators, his personal friend, who had come into his power, and had facili- tated his escape. The governor, indignant at the proceeding, would listen to no explanation, but ordered the offending officer to return to his own district of Popayan. It was a bold step, in the pre- carious state of his own fortunes. As the governor pursued his march, he was well received by the people on the way ; and when he 11 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Emperador, San Joan de la Fron- €onq.,MS.— Declaration delJsca- tera, MS., 24 de Sep. 1542.— tegui, MS. — Gareilasso, Com. Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 7, Real., Parte 2, lib. 2, cap. 13.— lib. 3, cap. 1, 2. Garta del Cabildo de Arequipa al I* * CH. VI.] PROGRESS OF THE GOVERNOR. 217 entered the cities of San Miguel and of Truxillo, he was welcomed with loyal enthusiasm by the inhabit tants, who readily acknowledged his authority, though they showed little alacrity to take their chance with him in the coming struggle. After lingering a long time in eachyof these places, he resumed his march and reachejj/j^ie camp of Alonso de Alvarado at Huaura,^^y in 1542. Holguin had established his quarters at some little distance from his rival ; for a jetafousy had sprung up, as usual, between these two captains, who both aspired to the supreme command of Captain-Gen- eral of the army. Th^, office of governor, conferred on Vaca de Castro,;*might seem to include that of commander-in-chief of the forces. But De Castro was a scholar, bred to the law ; and, whatever au- thority he might arrogate to himself in civil matters, the two captains imagined that the military depart- ment he would resign into the hands of others. They little knew the character of the man. Though possessed of no more military science than belonged to every cavalier in that martial age, the governor knew that to avow his ignorance, and to resign the management of affairs into the hands of others, would greatly impair his authority, if not bring him into contempt with the turbulent spirits among whom he was now thrown. He had both sagacity and spirit, and trusted to be able to supply his own deficiencies by the experience of others. His position placed the services of the ablest men in the country at his disposal, and with the aid of their VOL. II. 28 - • ** 218 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boox IV. counsels he felt quite competent to decide on his plan of operations, and to enforce the execution of it. He knew, moreover, that the only way to allay the jealousy of the two parties in the pres- ent crisis was to assume himself the office which was the cause of their dissension. Still he approached his ambitious officers with great caution ; and the representations, which he made through some judicious persons who had the most intimate access to them, were so successful, that both were in a short time prevailed on to relin- quish their pretensions in his favor. Holguin, the more unreasonable of the two, then waited on him in his rival's quarters, where the governor had the further satisfaction to reconcile him to Alonso de Alvarado. It required some address, as their jeal- ousy of each other had proceeded to such lengths that a challenge had passed between them. Harmony being thus restored, the licentiate passed over to Holguin's camp, where he was greeted with salvoes of artillery, and loud acclamations of " Viva el Rey " from the loyal soldiery. Ascending a plat- form covered with velvet, he made an animated harangue to the troops ; his commission was read aloud by the secretary ; and the little army tendered their obedience to him as the representative of the Crown. Vaca de Castro's next step was to send off the greater part of his force, in the direction of Xauxa, while, at the head of a small corps, he directed his march towards Lima. Here he was received with CH. VI.] THE FORCES APPROACH EACH OTHER. 219 lively demonstrations of joy by the citizens, who were generally attached to the cause of Pizarro, the founder and constant patron of their capital. In- deed, the citizens had lost no time after Almagro's departure in expelling his creatures from the munici- pality, and reasserting their allegiance. With these favorable dispositions towards himself, the governor found no difficulty in obtaining a considerable loan of money from the wealthier inhabitants. But he was less successful, at first, in his application for horses and arms, since the harvest had been too faithfully gleaned, already, by the men of Chili. As, however, he prolonged his stay some time in the capital, he obtained important supplies, before he left it, both of arms and ammunition, while he added to his force by a considerable body of recruits.12 As he was thus employed, he received tidings that the enemy had left Cuzco, and was on his march towards the coast. Quitting Los Reyes, therefore, with his trusty followers, Vaca de Castro marched at once to Xauxa, the appointed place of rendezvous. Here he mustered his forces, and found that they amounted to about seven hundred men. The caval- ry, in which lay his strength, was superior in num- bers to that of his antagonist, but neither so well mounted or armed. It included many cavaliers of birth, and well-tried soldiers, besides a number who, 12 Declaracion de Uscategui, Carta de Barrio Nuevo, MS. — MS. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Carta de Benalcazar al Emperador, Conq., MS. — Herrera, Hist. Ge- MS. neral, dec. 7, lib. 1, cap. 1. — 220 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boox IV. having great interests at stake, as possessed of large estates in the country, had left them at the call of government, to enlist under its banners.13 His in- fantry, besides pikes, was indifferently well supplied with fire-arms ; but he had nothing to show in the way of artillery except three or four ill-mounted fal- conets. Yet, notwithstanding these deficiencies, the royal army, if so insignificant a force can deserve that name, was so far superior in numbers to that of his rival, that the one might be thought, on the whole, to be no unequal match for the other.14 The reader, familiar with the large masses em- ployed in European warfare, may smile at the pal- try forces of the Spaniards. But in the New World, where a countless host of natives went for little, five hundred well-trained Europeans were regarded as a formidable body. No army, up to the period before us, had ever risen to a thousand. Yet it is 13 The Municipality of Arequi- Carbajal notices the politic man- pa, most of whose members were ner in which his commander bribed present in the army, stoutly urge recruits into his service, — paying their claims to a compensation for them with promises and fair words thus promptly leaving their estates, when ready money failed him. and taking up arms at the call of " Dando a unos dineros, e a otros government. Without such re- armas i caballos, i a otros palabras, ward, they say, their patriotic ex- i a otros promesas, i a otros gra- ample will not often be followed, ziosas respuestas de lo que con el The document, which is important negoziaban para tenerlos a todos for its historical details, may be muy conttentos i presttos en el ser- found in the Castilian, in Appendix, vicio de S. M. quando fuese menes- No. 13. tter." Dicho del Capitan Fran- 14 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y cisco de Carbajal sobre la informa- Conq., MS. — Zarate, Conq. del cion hecha en el Cuzco en 1543, & Peru, lib. 4, cap. 15. — Carta de favor de Vaca de Castro, MS. Barrio Nuevo, MS. CH. VI.] THE FORCES APPROACH EACH OTHER. 221 not numbers, as I have already been led to remark, that give importance to a conflict ; but the conse- quences that depend on it, — the magnitude of the stake, and the skill and courage of the players. The more limited the means, even, the greater may be the science shown in the use of them ; until, forgetting the poverty of the materials, we fix our attention on the conduct of the actors, and the greatness of the results* While at Xauxa, Vaca de Castro received an embassy from Gonzalo Pizarro, returned from his expedition from the " Land of Cinnamon," in which that chief made an offer of his services in the ap- proaching contest. The governor's answer showed that he was not wholly averse to an accommodation with Almagro, provided it could be effected without compromising the royal authority. He was willing, perhaps, to avoid the final trial by battle, when he considered, that, from the equality of the contending forces, the issue must be extremely doubtful. He knew that the presence of Pizarro in the camp, the detested enemy of the Almagrians, would excite distrust in their bosoms that would probably baffle every effort at accommodation. Nor is it likely that the governor cared to have so restless a spirit intro- duced into his own councils. He accordingly sent to Gonzalo, thanking him for the promptness of his support, but courteously declined it, while he advised him to remain in his province, and repose after the fatigues of his wearisome expedition. At the same time, he assured him that he would not fail to call for 222 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. his services when occasion required it. — The haugh- ty cavalier was greatly disgusted by the repulse.15 The governor now received such an account of Almagro's movements as led him to suppose that he was preparing to occupy Guamanga, a fortified place of considerable strength, about thirty leagues from Xauxa.^ Anxious to secure this post, he broke up his encampment, and by forced marches, conducted in so irregular a manner as must have placed him in great danger if his enemy had been near to profit by it, he succeeded in anticipating Almagro, and threw himself into the place while his antagonist was at Bilcas, some ten leagues distant. At Guamanga, Vaca de Castro received another embassy from Almagro, of similar import with the former. The young chief again deprecated the ex- istence of hostilities between brethren of the same family, and proposed an accommodation of the quar- rel on the same basis as before. To these proposals the governor now condescended to reply. It might be thought, from his answer, that he felt some compassion for the youth and inexperience of Alma- gro, and that he was willing to distinguish between him and the principal conspirators, provided he could detach him from their interests. But it is more probable that he intended only to amuse his enemy by a show of negotiation, while he gained time for tampering with the fidelity of his troops. He insisted that Almagro should deliver up to 15 Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 16 Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. 4, cap. 15. 85. CH. VI.] THE FORCES APPROACH EACH OTHER. 223 him all those immediately implicated in the death of Pizarro, and should then disband his forces. On these conditions the government would pass over his treasonable practices, and he should be reinstated in the royal favor. Together with this mission, Vaca de Castro, it is reported, sent a Spaniard, disguised as an Indian, who was instructed to communicate with certain officers in Almagro's camp, and prevail on them, if possible, to abandon his cause and re- turn to their allegiance. Unfortunately, the disguise of the emissary was detected. He was seized, put to the torture, and, having confessed the whole of the transaction, was hanged as a spy. Almagro laid the proceeding before his captains. The terms proffered by the governor were such as no man with a particle of honor in his nature could entertain far a moment ; and Almagro's in- dignation, as well as that of his companions, was heightened by the duplicity of their enemy, who could practise such insidious arts, while ostensibly engaged in a fair and open negotiation. Fearful, perhaps, lest the tempting offers of their antagonist might yet prevail over the constancy of some of the weaker spirits among them, they demanded that all negotiation should be broken off, and that they should be led at once against the enemy.1* 17 Dicho del Capitan Francisco Herrera, Hist. General, dec; 7, de Carbajal sobre la informacion lib. 3, cap. 8. — Carta de Ventura hecha en el Cuzco en 1543, a favor Beltran, MS. — Gomara, Hist, de de Vaca de Castro, MS. — Zarate, las Ind., cap. 149. Conq. del Peru, lib. 4, cap. 16. — * v " • '- * 224 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boo* IV. The governor, meanwhile, finding the broken country around Guamanga unfavorable for his caval- ry, on which he mainly relied, drew off his forces to the neighbouring lowlands, known as the Plains of Chupas. It was the tempestuous season of the year, and for several , days the storm raged wildly among the hills, and, sweeping along their sides into the valley, poured down rain, sleet, and snow on the miserable bivouacs of the soldiers, till they were drenched to the skin and nearly stiffened by the cold.18 At length, on the -sixteenth of September, 1542, the scouts brought in tidings that Almagro's troops were advancing, with the intention, apparent- ly, of occupying the highlands around Chupas. The war of the elements had at last subsided, and was succeeded by one of those brilliant days which are found only in the tropics. The royal camp was early in motion, as Vaca de Castro, desirous to se- cure the heights that commanded the valley, detach- ed a body of arquebusiers on that service, supported by a corps of cavalry, which he soon followed with the rest of the forces. On reaching the eminence, news was brought that the enemy had come to a halt, and established himself in a strong position at less than a league's distance. It was now late in the afternoon, and the sun was not more than two hours above the horizon. The governor hesitated to begin the action when they K " Tuvieron tan gran tempe- ciendo con dia claro, i sereno." stad de agua, Truenos, i Nieve, Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. que pensaron perecer ; i araane- 3, cap. 8. UH. VI.] BLOODY PLAINS OF CHUPAS. 225 must so soon be overtaken by night. But Alonso de Alvarado assured him that " now was the time ; for the spirits of his men were hot for fight, and it was better to take the benefit of it than to damp their ardor by delay." The governor acquiesced, exclaiming at the same time, — " O for the might of Joshua, to stay the sun in his course ! " 19 He then drew up his little army in order of battle, and made his dispositions for the attack. In the centre he placed his infantry, consisting of arquebusiers and pikemen, constituting the battle, as it was called. On the flanks, he established his cavalry, placing the right wing, together with the royal standard, under charge of Alonso de Alvarado, and the left under Holguin, supported by a gallant body of cavaliers. His artillery, too insignificant to be of much account, was also in the centre. He proposed himself to lead the van, and to break the first lance with the enemy ; but from this chival- rous display he was dissuaded by his officers, who reminded him that too much depended on his life to have it thus wantonly exposed. The governor con- tented himself, therefore, with heading a body of reserve, consisting of forty horse, to act on any quarter as occasion might require. This corps, comprising the flower of his chivalry, was chiefly drawn from Alvarado's troop, greatly to the discon- tent of that captain. The governor himself rode a 19 " Y asi Vaca de Castro signio tener el poder de Josue, para dete- su parescer, temiendo toda via la ner el Sol." Zarate, Conq. del falta del Dia, i dijo, que quisiera Peru, lib. 4, cap. 18. VOL. II. 29 ,41 226 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boox IV. coal-black charger, and wore a rich surcoat of bro- cade over his mail, through which the habit and em- blems of the knightly order of St. James, conferred on him just before his departure from Castile, were conspicuous.20 It was a point of honor with the chivalry of the period to court danger by displaying their rank in the splendor of their military attire and the caparisons of their horses. Before commencing the assault, Vaca de Castro addressed a few remarks to his soldiers, in order to remove any hesitation that some might yet feel, who recollected the displeasure shown by the emperor to the victors as well as the vanquished after the battle of Salinas. He told them that their enemies were rebels. They were in arms against him, the repre- sentative of the Crown, and it was his duty to quell this rebellion and punish the authors of it. He then caused the law to be read aloud, proclaiming the doom of traitors. By this law, Almagro and his followers had forfeited their lives and property, and the governor promised to distribute the latter among such of his men as showed the best claim to it by their conduct in the battle. This last politic prom- ise vanquished the scruples of the most fastidious ; 20 " I visto esto por el dicho i con una ropa de brocade encima sefior Governador, mando dar al de las armas con el abito de Sant- arma a mui gran priesa, i mando a iago en los pechos." Dicho del este testigo que sacase toda la Capitan Francisco de Carbajal so- gente al campo, i el se entro en su bre la informacion hecha en el tienda a -se armar, i dende a poco Cuzco en 1543, a favor de Vaca de salio della encima de un cavallo Castro, MS. morcillo rabicano armado en bianco CH. VI.] BLOODY PLAINS OF CHUPAS. 227 and, having completed his dispositions in the most judicious and soldier-like manner, Vaca de Castro gave the order to advance.21 As the forces turned a spur of the hills which had hitherto screened them from their enemies, they came in sight of the latter, formed along the crest of a gentle eminence, with their snow-white ban- ners, the distinguishing color of the Almagrians, floating above their heads, and their bright arms flinging back the broad rays of the evening sun. Almagro's disposition of his troops was not unlike that of his adversary. In the centre was his .ex- cellent artillery, covered by his arquebusiers and spearmen ; while his cavalry rode on the flanks. The troops on the left he proposed to lead in per- son. He had chosen his position with judgment, as the character of the ground gave full play to his guns, which opened an effective fire on the assailants as they drew near. Shaken by the storm of shot, Vaca de Castro saw the difficulty of advancing in open view of the hostile battery. He took the counsel, therefore, of Francisco de Carbajal, who un- dertook to lead the forces by a circuitous, but safer, route. This is the first occasion on which the name 21 The governor's words, says determinadamente se partieron de Jarbajal, who witnessed their ef- alii para ir a los enemigos como si feet, stirred the heart of the troops, fueron a fiestas donde estuvieran so that they went to the battle as convidados." Dicho del Capitan *o a ball. " En pocas palabras Francisco de Carbajal, sobre la 1n- 3omprehendio tan grandes cosas formacion hecha en el Cuzco en jue la gente de S. M. covro tan 1543,' a favor de Vaca de Castro, ^rande anirao con ellas, que tan MS. 228 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boon IV of this veteran appears in these American wars, where it was afterwards to acquire a melancholy notoriety. He had come to the country after the campaigns of forty years in Europe, where he had studied the art of war under the Great Captain, Gonsalvo de Cordova. Though now far advanced in age, he possessed all the courage and indomitable energy of youth, and well exemplified the lessons he had studied under his great commander. Taking advantage of a winding route that sloped round the declivity of the hills, he conducted the troops in such a manner, that, until they approached quite near the enemy, they were protected by the intervening ground. While thus advancing, they were assailed on the left flank by the Indian battal- ions under Paullo, the Inca Manco's brother ; but a corps of musketeers, directing a scattering fire among them, soon rid the Spaniards of this annoy- ance. When, at length, the royal troops, rising above the hill, again came into view of Almagro's lines, the artillery opened on them with fatal effect. It was but for a moment, however, as, from some unaccountable cause, the guns were pointed at such an angle, that, although presenting an obvious mark, by far the greater part of the shot passed over their heads. Whether this was the result of treachery, or merely of awkwardness, is uncertain. The artillery was under charge of the engineer, Pedro de Can- dia. This man, who, it may be remembered, was one of the thirteen that so gallantly stood by Pizar- ro in the island of Gallo, had fought side by side : " CH. VI.] BLOODY PLAINS OF CHUPAS. 229 with his leader through the whole of the Conquest. He had lately, however, conceived some disgust with him, and had taken part with the faction of Almagro. The death of his old commander, he may perhaps have thought, had settled all their differences, and he was now willing to return to his former allegiance. At least, it is said, that, at this very time, he was in correspondence with Vaca de Castro. Almagro himself seems to have had no doubt of his treachery. For, after remonstrating in vain with him on his present conduct, he ran him through the body, and the unfortunate cavalier fell lifeless on the field. Then, throwing himself on one of the guns, Almagro gave it a new direction, and that so successfully, that, .when it was discharged, it struck down several of the cavalry.22. The firing now took better effect, and by one volley a whole file of the royal infantry was swept off, and though others quickly stepped in to fill up the ranks, the men, impatient of their sufferings, loudly called on the troopers, who had halted for a moment, to quicken their advance.23 This delay 22 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y de Ventura Beltran, MS. — De- Conq., MS. — Zarate, Conq. del claracion de Uscategui, MS. — Peru, lib. 4, cap. 17-19. — Na- Gomara, Hist, de las Ind., cap. harro, Relacion Sumaria, MS. — 149. Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 7, According to Garcilasso, whose lib. 3, cap. 11. — Dicho del Capitan guns usually do more execution Francisco de Carbajal sobre la in- than those of any 'other authority, formacion hecha en el Cuzco en seventeen men were killed by this 1543, a favor de Vaca de Castro, wonderful shot. See Com. Real., MS. — Carta del Cabildo de Are- Parte 2, lib. 3, cap. 16. quipa al Emperador, MS. — Carta ^ The officers drove the men. 230 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. had been caused by Carbajal's desire to bring his own guns to bear on the opposite columns. But the design was quickly abandoned ; the clumsy ord- nance was left on the field, and orders were given to the cavalry to charge ; the trumpets sounded, and, crying their war-cries, the bold cavaliers struck their spurs into their steeds^ and rode at full speed against the enemy. Well had it been for Almagro, if he had remained firm on the post which gave him such advantage. But from a false point of honor, he thought it de- rogatory to a brave knight passively to await the assault, and, ordering his own men to charge, the hostile squadrons, rapidly advancing against each other, met midway on the plain. The shock was terrible. Horse and rider reeled under the force of it. The spears flew into shivers ; M and the cava- liers, drawing their swords, or wielding their maces and battle-axes, — though some of the royal troopers were armed only with a common axe, — dealt their blows with all the fury of civil hate. It was a fearful struggle, not merely of man against man, according to Zarate, at the point quedando muchos muertos, i caidos of their swords, to take the places de ambas partes." (Ibid., ubi of their fallen comrades. " Porque supra.) Zarate writes on this oc- vn tiro llevo toda vna hilera, e hi$o casion with the spirit and strength abrir el Escuadron, i los Capitanes of Thucydides. He was not pres- pusieron gran diligencia en hacerlo ent, but came into the country the cerrar, amenagando de muerte a following year, when he gleaned los Soldados, con las Espadas des- the particulars of the battle from envainadas, i se cerro." Conq. the best informed persons there, to del Peru, lib. 4, cap. 1. whom his position gave him ready 24 " Se encontraron de suerte, access, que casi todas las lane, as quebraron, CH. VI.] BLOODY PLAINS OF CHUPAS. 231 but, to use the words of an eyewitness, of brother against brother, and friend against friend.25 No quarter was asked ; for the wrench that had been strong enough to tear asunder the dearest ties of kindred left no hold for humanity. The excellent arms of the Almagrians counterbalanced the odds of numbers ; but the royal partisans gained some ad- vantage by striking at the horses instead of the mailed bodies of their antagonists. The infantry, meanwhile, on both sides, kept up a sharp cross-fire from their arquebuses, which did execution on the ranks of the cavaliers, as well as on one another. But Alrnagro's battery of heavy guns, now well directed, mowed down the advancing col- umns of foot. The latter, staggering, began to fall back from the terrible fire, when Francisco de Carbajal, throwing himself before them, cried out, " Shame on you, my men ! Do you give way now ? I am twice as good a mark for the enemy as any of you ! " He was a very large man ; and, throwing off his steel helmet and cuirass, that he might have no advantage over his followers, he remained lightly attired in his cotton doublet, when, swinging his partisan over his head, he sprang boldly forward through blinding volumes of smoke and a tempest 25 It is the language of the gente mas cruel batalla, donde her- Conquerors themselves, who, in manos a hermanos, ni deudos a their letter to the Emperor, com- deudos, ni amigos a amigos no se pare the action to the great battle davan vida uno a otro." Carta del of Ravenna. " Fue tan renida i Cabildo de Arequipa al Emperador, porfiada, que despues de la de Re- MS. bena, no se ha visto entre tan poca , 232 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boo* IV. of musket-balls, and, supported by the bravest of his troops, overpowered the gunners, and made himself master of their pieces. The shades of night had now, for some time, been coming thicker and thicker over the field. But still the deadly struggle went on in the dark- ness, as the red and white badges intimated the respective parties, and their war-cries rose above the din, — " Vaca de Castro y el Rey," — " Almagro y el Rey," — while both invoked the aid of their mili- tary apostle St. James. Holguin, who commanded the royalists on the left, pierced through by two musket-balls, had been slain early in the action. He had made himself conspicuous by a rich sobrc- vest of white velvet over his armour. Still a gallant band of cavaliers maintained the fight so valiantly on that quarter, that the Almagrians found it diffi- cult to keep their ground.26 It fared differently on the right, where Alonso de Alvarado commanded. He was there encoun- tered by Almagro in person, who fought worthy of his name. By repeated charges on his opponent, he endeavoured to bear down his squadrons, so much worse mounted and worse armed than his own. Alvarado resisted with undiminished cour- age ; but his numbers had been thinned, as we have 26 The battle was so equally talla estuvo mui gran rato en peso contested, says Beltran, one of sin conoscerse vitoria de la una Vaca de Castro's captains, that it parte a la otra." Carta de Ven- was long doubtful on which side tura Beltran, MS. victory was to incline. " I la ba- ** CH. VI.] BLOODY PLAINS OF CHUPAS. 233 seen, before the battle, to supply the governor's reserve, and, fairly overpowered by the superior strength of his adversary, who had already won two of the royal banners, he was slowly giving ground. "Take, but kill not! " shouted the gener- ous young chief, who felt himself sure of victory.27 But at this crisis, Vaca de Castro, who, with his reserve, had occupied a rising ground that com- manded the field of action, was fully aware that the time had now come for him to, take part in the struggle. He had long strained his eyes through the gloom to watch the movements of the com- batants, and received constant tidings how the fight was going. He no longer hesitated, but, call- ing on his men to follow, led off boldly into the thickest of the melee to the support of his stout- hearted officer. The arrival of a new corps on the field, all fresh for action, gave another turn to the tide.28 Alvarado's men took heart and rallied. Al- magro's, though driven back by the fury of the assault, quickly returned against their assailants. Thirteen of Vaca de Castro's cavaliers fell dead from their saddles. But it was the last effort of the Almagrians. Their strength, though not their spirit, failed them. They gave way in all directions, and, 27 " Gritaba, Victoria; i decia, day by this movement, and the Prender i no matar." Herrera, writers express their " admiration Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 3, cap. of the gallantry and courage he 11. displayed, . so little to have been 98 The letter of the municipality expected from his age and profes- of Arequipa gives the governor sion." See the original in Appen credit for deciding the fate of the dix, No. 13. VOL. II. 30 " •£ 234 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. mingling together in the darkness, horse, foot, and artillery, they trampled one another down, as they made the best of their way from the press of their pursuers. Almagro used every effort to stay them. He performed miracles of valor, says one who wit- nessed them ; but he was borne along by the tide, and, though he seemed to court death, by the free- dom with which he exposed his person to danger, yet he escaped without a wound. Others there were of his company, and among them a young cavalier named Geronimo de Alvarado, who obstinately refused to quit the field ; and shout- ing out, — " We slew Pizarro ! we killed the ty- rant ! " they threw themselves on the lances of their conquerors, preferring death on the battle-field t< the ignominious doom of the gibbet.29 It was nine o'clock when the battle ceased, though the firing was heard at intervals over the field at a much later hour, as some straggling party of fugitives were overtaken by their pursuers. Yet many succeeded in escaping in the obscurity of night, while some, it is said, contrived to elude pur- suit in a more singular way; tearing off the badges from the corpses of their enemies, they assumed them for themselves, and, mingling in the ranks as followers of Vaca de Castro, joined in the pursuit. That commander, at length, fearing some un- 29 " Se arrojaron en los Enemi- mate al Marques; i asi anduvieron gos, como desesperados, hiriendo a hasta, que los hicieron peda^os." todas partes, diciendo cada vno por Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 4, su nombre: Yo soi Fulano, que cap. 19. CH VI.] BLOODY PLAINS OF CHUPAS. 235 toward accident, and that the fugitives, should they rally again under cover of the darkness, might inflict some loss oh their pursuers, caused his trumpets to sound, and recalled his scattered forces under their banners. All night they remained under arms on the field, which, so lately the scene of noisy strife, was now hushed in silence, broken only by the groans of the wounded and the dying. The natives, who had hung, during the fight, like a dark cloud, round the skirts of the mountains, contemplating with gloomy satisfaction the destruction of their ene- mies, now availed themselves of the obscurity to descend, like a pack of famished wolves, upon the plains, where they stripped the bodies of the slain, and even of the living, but disabled wretches, who had in vain dragged themselves into the bushes foi concealment. The following morning, Vaca de Cas- tro gave orders that the wounded — those who had not perished in the cold damps of the night — should be committed to the care of the surgeons, while the priests were occupied with administering confession and absolution to the dying. Four large graves or pits were dug, in which the bodies of the slain — the conquerors and the conquered — were heaped in- discriminately together. But the remains of Alvarez de Holguin and several other cavaliers of distinction were transported to Guamanga, where they were buried with the solemnities suited to their rank ; and the tattered banners won from their vanquished countrymen waved over their monuments, the mel- ancholy trophies of their victory. *<*• 236 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. The number of killed is variously reported, — from three hundred to five hundred on both sides.30 The mortality was greatest among the conquerors, who suffered more from the cannon of the enemy before the action, than the latter suffered in the rout that followed it. The number of wounded was still greater ; and full half of the survivors of Alma- gro's party were made prisoners. Many, indeed, escaped from the field to the neighbouring town of Guamanga, where they took refuge in the churches and monasteries. But their asylum was not respected, and they were dragged forth and thrown into prison. Their brave young commander fled with a few followers only to Cuzco, where he was instantly arrested by the magistrates whom he had himself placed over the city.31 At Guamanga, Vaca de Castro appointed a com- mission, with the Licentiate de la Gama at its head, for the trial of the prisoners ; and justice was not 30 Zarate estimates the number MS. — Carta del Cabildo de Are- at three hundred. Uscategui, who quipa al Emperador, MS. — Carta belonged to the Almagrian party, de Barrio Nuevo, MS. — Gomara, and Garcilasso, both rate it as high Hist, de las Ind., cap. 149. — Gar- as five hundred. cilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 31 The particulars of the ac- 3, cap. 15-18. — Declaracion de tion are gathered from Pedro Pi- Uscategui, MS. zarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — Many of these authorities were Carta de Ventura Beltran, MS. — personally present on the field ; Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 4, cap. and it is rare that the details of a 17-20. — Naharro, Relacion Su- battle are drawn from more au- maria, MS. — Dicho del Capitan thentic testimony. The student of Francisco de Carbajal sobre la in- history will not be surprised that formacion hecha en el Cuzco en in these details there should be the 1543, a favor de Vaca de Castro, greatest discrepancy. CH. VI.] CONDUCT OF VACA DE CASTRO. 237 satisfied, till forty had been condemned to death, and thirty others — some of them with the loss of one or more of their members — sent into banish- ment.32 Such severe reprisals have been too com- mon with the Spaniards in their civil feuds. Strange that they should so blindly plunge into these, with this dreadful doom for the vanquished ! From the scene of this bloody tragedy, the gov- ernor proceeded to Cuzco, which he entered at the head of his victorious battalions, with all the pomp and military display of a conqueror. He main- tained a corresponding state in his way of living, at the expense of a sneer from some, who sarcasti- cally contrasted this ostentatious profusion with the economical reforms he subsequently introduced into the finances.33 But Vaca de Castro was sensible of the effect of this outward show on the people generally, and disdained ho means of giving au- thority to his office. His first act was to determine the fate of his prisoner, Almagro. A council of war was held. Some were for sparing the unfortu- nate chief, in consideration of his youth, and the strong cause of provocation he had received. But 32 Declaracion de Uscategui, would have had no reason to com- MS. — Carta de Ventura Beltran, plain ; but what was omitted then is MS. — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, made up now, since the governor lib. 4, cap. 21. goes on quartering every day some The loyal burghers of Arequipa one or other of the traitors who seem to have been well contented escaped from the field." See the with these executions. " If night original in Appendix, No. 13. had not overtaken us," they say, & Herrera, Hist. General, dec. alluding to the action, in their let- 7, lib. 4, cap. 1. ter to the emperor, " your Majesty 238 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. the majority were of opinion that such mercy could not be extended to the leader of the rebels, and that his death was indispensable to the permanent tranquillity of the country. When led to execution in the great square of Cuzco, — the same spot where his father had suffer- ed but a few years before, — Almagro exhibited the most perfect composure, though, as the herald pro- claimed aloud the doom of the traitor, he indignant- ly denied that he was one. He made no appeal for mercy to his judges, but simply requested that his bones might be laid by the side of his father's. He objected to having his eyes bandaged, as was cus- tomary on such occasions, and, after confession, he devoutly embraced the cross, and submitted his neck to the stroke of the executioner. His remains, agreeably to his request, were transported to the monastery of La Merced, where they were deposited side by side with those of his unfortunate parent.34 There have been few names, indeed, in the page of history, more unfortunate than that of Alrnagro. Yet the fate of the son excites a deeper sympathy than that of the father ; and this, not merely on ac- count of his youth, and the peculiar circumstances of his situation. He possessed many of the good qualities of the elder Almagro, with a frank and manly nature, in which the bearing of the soldier was somewhat softened by the refinement of a bet- 34 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Relacion Sumaria, MS. — Herre- Conq., MS. — Zarate, Conq. del ra, Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 6, Peru, lib. 4, cap. 21. — Naharro, cap. 1. CH. VI.] CONDUCT OF VACA DE CASTRO. 239 ter education than is to be found in the license of a camp. His career, though short, gave promise of considerable talent, which required only a fair field for its development. But he was the child of mis- fortune, and his morning of life was overcast by clouds and tempests. If his character, naturally benignant, sometimes showed the fiery sparkles of the vindictive Indian temper, some apology may be found, not merely in his blood, but in the circum- stances of his situation. He was more sinned against than sinning; and, if conspiracy could, ever find a justification, it must be in a case like his, where, borne down by injuries heaped on his parent and himself, he could obtain no redress from the only quarter whence he had a right to look for it. With him, the name of Almagro became extinct, and the faction of Chili, so long the terror of the land, passed away for ever. ft While these events were occurring in Cuzco, the governor learned that Gonzalo Pizarro had arrived at Lima, where he showed himself greatly discontented with the state of things in Peru. He loudly com- plained that the government of the country, after his brother's death, had not been placed in his hands ; and, as reported by some, he was now medi- tating schemes for getting possession of it. Vaca de Castro well knew that there would be no lack of evil counsellors to urge Gonzalo to this desperate step ; and, anxious to extinguish the spark of insur- rection before it had been fanned by these turbulent spirits into a flame, he detached a strong body to 240 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boos IV. Lima to secure that capital. At the same time he commanded the presence of Gonzalo Pizarro in Cuzco. That chief did not think it prudent to disregard the summons ; and shortly after entered the Inca capital, at the head of a well-armed body of cava- liers. He was at once admitted into the governor's presence, when the latter dismissed his guard, re- marking that he had nothing to fear from a brave and loyal knight like Pizarro. He then questioned him as to his late adventures in Canelas, and showed great sympathy for his extraordinary sufferings. He took care not to alarm his jealousy by any allusion to his ambitious schemes, and concluded by recom- mending him, now that the tranquillity of the coun- try was reestablished, to retire and seek the repose he so much needed, on his valuable estates at Char- cas. Gonzalo Pizarro, finding no ground opened for a quarrel with the cool and politic governor, and probably feeling that he was, -at least not now, in sufficient strength to warrant it, thought it prudent to take the advice, and withdrew to La Plata, where he busied himself in working those rich mines of silver that soon put him in condition for a more momentous enterprise than any he had yet at- tempted.35 Thus rid of his formidable competitor, Vaca de Castro occupied himself with measures for the set- 35 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y cap. 3. — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, Conq., MS. — Herrera, Hist. Ge- lib. 4, cap. 22. neral, dec. 7, lib. 4, cap. 1 ; lib. 6, CH. VI.] CONDUCT OF VACA DE CASTRO. 241 tlement of the country. He began with his army, a part of which he had disbanded. But many cava- liers still remained, pressing their demands for a suitable recompense for their services. These they were not disposed to undervalue, and the governor was happy to rid himself of their importunities by employing them on distant expeditions, among which was the exploration of the country watered by the great Rio de la Plata. The boiling spirits of the high-mettled cavaliers, without some such vent, would soon have thrown the whole country again into a state of fermentation. His next concern was to provide laws for the bet- ter government of the colony. He gave especial care to the state of the Indian population ; and established schools for teaching them Christianity. By various provisions, he endeavoured to secure them from the exactions of their conquerors, and he encouraged the poor natives to transfer their own residence to the communities of the white men. He commanded the caciques to provide supplies for the tambos, or houses for the accommodation of trav- ellers, which lay in their neighbourhood, by which regulation he took away from the Spaniards a plau- sible apology for rapine, and greatly promoted fa- cility of intercourse. He was watchful over the finances, much dilapidated in the late troubles, and in several instances retrenched what he deemed excessive repartimientos among the Conquerors. This last act exposed him to much odium from the objects of it. But his measures were so just VOL. II. 31 242 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. and impartial, that he was supported by public opinion.36 Indeed, Vaca de Castro's conduct, from the hour of his arrival in the country, had been such as to command respect, and prove him competent to the difficult post for which he had been selected. With- out funds, without troops, he had found the country, on his landing, in a state of anarchy ; yet, by cour- age and address, he had gradually acquired sufficient strength to quell the insurrection. Though no sol- dier, he had shown undaunted spirit and presence of mind in the hour of action, and made his military preparations with a forecast and discretion that excited the admiration of the most experienced veterans. If he may be thought to have abused the advan- tages of victory by cruelty towards the conquered, it must be allowed that he was not influenced by any motives of a personal nature. He was a law- yer, bred in high notions of royal prerogative. Re- bellion he looked upon as an unpardonable crime ; and, if his austere nature was unrelenting in the exaction of justice, he lived in an iron age, when justice was rarely tempered by mercy. In his subsequent regulations for the settlement of the country, he showed equal impartiality and wisdom. The colonists were deeply sensible of the benefits of his administration, and afforded the best commentary on his services by petitioning the Court 36 Ibid., ubi supra. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 6, cap. 2. CH. VI.] CONDUCT OF VACA DE CASTRO. 243 of Castile to continue him in the government of Peru.37 Unfortunately, such was not the policy of the Crown. 37 " I asi lo escrivieron al Rei la sona, que procedia con rectitud, i Ciudad del Cuzco, la Villa de la que ia entendia el Govierno de Plata, i otras Comunidades, supli- aquellos Reinos." Herrera, Ibid., candole, que los dexase por Gover- loc. cit. nador a Vaca de Castro, como Per- CHAPTER VII. ABUSES BY THE CONQUERORS. — CODE FOR THE COLONIES. — GREAT EXCITEMENT IN PERU. — BLASCO NUNEZ THE VICEROY.— His SE- VERE POLICY. — OPPOSED BY GONZALO PIZARRO. 1543—1544. BEFORE continuing the narrative of events in Peru, we must turn to the mother-country, where important changes were in progress in respect to the administration of the colonies. Since his accession to the Crown, Charles the Fifth had been chiefly engrossed by the politics of Europe, where a theatre was opened more stimu- lating to his ambition than could be found in a struggle with the barbarian princes of the New World. In this quarter, therefore, an empire almost unheeded, as it were, had been suffered to grow up, until it had expanded into dimensions greater than those of his European dominions, and destined soon to become far more opulent. A scheme of government had, it is true, been devised, and laws enacted from time to time for the regulation of the colonies. But these laws were often accommodated less to the interests of the colonies themselves, than to those of the parent country ; and, when contrived in a better spirit, they were but imperfectly execut- CH. VII.] ABUSES BY THE CONQUERORS. 245 ed ; for the voice of authority, however loudly pro- claimed at home, too often died away in feeble echoes before it had crossed the waters. This state of things, and, indeed, the manner in which the Spanish territories in the New World had been originally acquired, were most unfortunate both for the conquered races and their masters. Had the provinces gained by the Spaniards been the fruit of peaceful acquisition, — of barter and negotiation, — or had their conquest been achieved under the immediate direction of government, the interests of the natives would have been more carefully protect- ed. From the superior civilization of the Indians in the Spanish American colonies, they still continued after the Conquest to remain on the ground, and to mingle in the same communities, with the white men ; in this forming an obvious contrast to the condition of our own aborigines, who, shrinking from the contact of civilization, have withdrawn, as the latter has advanced, deeper and deeper into the heart of the wilderness. But the South Ameri- can Indian was qualified by his previous institutions for a more refined legislation than could be adapted to the wild hunters of the forest ; and, had the sov- ereign been there in person to superintend his con- quests, he could never have suffered so large a portion of his vassals to be wantonly sacrificed to the cupidity and cruelty of the handful of adven- turers who subdued them. But, as it was, the affair of reducing the country was committed to the hands of irresponsible indi- 246 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. victuals, soldiers of fortune, desperate adventurers, who entered on conquest as a game, which they were to play in the most unscrupulous manner, with little care but to win it. Receiving small encour- agement from the government, they were indebted to their own valor for success ; and the right of con- quest, they conceived, extinguished every existing right in the unfortunate natives. The lands, the persons, of the conquered races were parcelled out and appropriated by the victors as the legitimate spoils of victory; and outrages were perpetrated every day, at the contemplation of which humanity shudders. These outrages, though nowhere perpetrated on so terrific a scale as in the islands, where, in a few years, they had nearly annihilated the native popula- tion, were yet of sufficient magnitude in Peru to call down the vengeance of Heaven on the heads of their authors; and the Indian might feel that this vengeance was not long delayed, when he be- held his oppressors, wrangling over their miserable spoil, and turning their swords against each other. Peru, as already mentioned, was subdued by ad- venturers, for the most part, of a lower and more ferocious stamp than those who followed the banner of Cortes. The character of the followers partook, in some measure, of that of the leaders in their re- spective enterprises. It was a sad fatality for the Incas ; for the reckless soldiers of Pizarro were bet- ter suited to contend with the fierce Aztec than with the more refined and effeminate Peruvian. Intoxi- CH. VII.] ABUSES BY THE CONQUERORS. 247 cated by the unaccustomed possession of power, and without the least notion of the responsibilities which attached to their situation as masters of the land, they too often abandoned themselves to the indulgence of every whim which cruelty or caprice could dictate. Not unfrequently, says an unsuspi- cious witness, I have seen the Spaniards, long after the Conquest, amuse themselves by hunting down the natives with bloodhounds for mere sport, or in order to train their dogs to the game ! l The most unbounded scope was given to licentiousness. The young maiden was torn without remorse from the arms of her family to gratify the passion of her brutal conqueror.2 The sacred houses of the Virgins of the Sun were broken open and violated, and the cavalier swelled his harem with a troop of Indian girls, making it seem that the Crescent would have been a much more fitting symbol for his banner than the immaculate Cross.3 But the dominant passion of the Spaniard was the lust of gold. For this he shrunk from no toil himself, and was merciless in his exactions of labor 1 " Espanoles hai que crian tra su voluntad, diciendo : For la perros carnieeros i los avezan a presente daraos licencia a vos Fu- matar Indies, lo qual procuran a lano, para que os podais servir de las veces -por pasatiempo, i ver si tal Indio 6 de tal India e lo podais lo hacen bien los perros." Rela- tomar e sacar donde quiera que lo cion que dio el Provisor Morales hallaredes." Rel. del Provisor sobre las cosas que convenian pro- Morales, MS. varse en el Peru, MS. 3 " Es general el vicio del 2 " Que los Justicias dan cedulas amancebamiento con Indias, i algu- de Anaconas que por otros termi- nos tienen cantidad dellas como en ^nos los hacen esclavos e vivir con- serrallo." Ibid., MS. 248 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. ,^M> jJ from his Indian slave. Unfortunately, Peru abound- ed in mines which too well repaid this labor ; and human life was the item of least account in the estimate of the Conquerors. Under his Incas, the Peruvian was never suffered to be idle ; but the task imposed on him was always proportioned to his strength. He had his seasons of rest and- refresh- ment, and was well protected against the inclem- ency of the weather. Every care was shown for his personal safety. But the Spaniards, while they taxed the strength of the native to the utmost, de- prived him of the means of repairing it, when ex- hausted. They suffered the provident arrangements of the Incas to fall into decay. The granaries were emptied; the flocks were wasted in riotous living. They were slaughtered to gratify a mere epicurean whim, and many a llama was destroyed solely for the sake of the brains, — a dainty morsel, much coveted by the Spaniards.4 So reckless was the spirit of destruction after the Conquest, says Ondegardo, the wise governor of Cuzco, that in four years more of these animals perished than in four hundred, in the times of the Incas.5 The flocks, once so numerous over the broad table-lands, were now thinned to a scanty number, that sought shelter in the fastnesses of the Andes. The poor 4 " Muchos Espanoles ban muer- 5 " Se puede afirmar que hicie- to i matan increible cantidad de ron mas dafio los Espanoles en ovejas por corner solo los sesos, solos quatro anos que el Inga en hacer pasteles del tuetano i cande- quatrocientos." Ondegardo, Rel. las de la grasa. De ai hambre Seg., MS. general." Ibid., MS. CH. VII.] ABUSES BY THE CONQUERORS. 249 Indian, without food, without the warm fleece which furnished him a defence against the cold, now wandered half-starved and naked over the plateau. Even those who had aided the Spaniards in the conquest fared no better ; and many an Inca noble roamed a mendicant over the lands where he once held rule, and if driven, perchance, by his necessi- ties, to purloin something from the superfluity of his conquerors, he expiated it by a miserable death.6 It is true, there were good men, missionaries, faithful to> their calling, who wrought hard in the spiritual conversion of the native, and who, touched by his misfortunes, would gladly have interposed their arm to shield him from his oppressors.7 But 6 *• Ahora no tienen que comer ni donde sembrar, i asi van a hur- tallo como solian, delito por que han aorcado a muchos." Rel. del Provisor Morales, MS. This, and some of the preceding citations, as the reader will see,' have been taken from the MS. of the Bachelor Luis de Morales, who lived eighteen or twenty years in Cuzco ; and, in 1541, about the time of Vaca de Castro's coming to Peru, prepared a Memorial for the government, embracing a hundred and nine chapters. It treats of the condition of the country, and the remedies which suggested them- selves to the benevolent mind of its author. The emperor's notes on the margin show that it received atten- tion at court. There is no reason, as far as I am aware, to distrust the testimony of the writer, and Munoz VOL. II. 32 has made some sensible extracts from it for his inestimable collection. 7 Father Naharro notices twelve missionaries, some of his own or- der, whose zealous labors and mir- acles for the conversion of the Ind- ians he deems worthy of com- parison with those of the twelve Apostles of Christianity. It is a pity that history, while it has com- memorated the names of so many persecutors of the poor heathen, should have omitted those of their benefactors. " Tomo su divina Magestad por instrumento 12 solos religiosos po- bres, descalzos i desconocidos, 5 del orden de la Merced, 4 de Pre- dicadores, i 3 de San Francisco, obraron lo mismo que los 12 apo- stolos en la conversion de todo el universe mundo." Naharro, Re- lacion Sumaria, MS. 250 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. too often the ecclesiastic became infected by the genera] spirit of licentiousness ; and the religious fraternities, who led a life of easy indulgence on the lands cultivated by their Indian slaves, were apt to think less of the salvation of their souls than of profiting by the labor of their bodies.8 Yet still there were not wanting good and wise men in the colonies, who, from time to time, raised the voice of remonstrance against these abuses, and who carried their complaints to the foot of the throne. To the credit of the government, it must also be confessed, that it was solicitous to obtain such information as it could, both from its own officers, and from commissioners deputed expressly for the purpose, whose voluminous communications throw a flood of light on the internal condition of the country, and furnish the best materials for the historian.9 But it was found much easier to get this information than to profit by it. 8 "Todoslos conventos de Do- This statement of the licentiate minicos i Mercenarios tienen re- shows a different side of the pic- partimientos. Ninguno dellos ha ture from that above quoted from dotrinado ni convertido un Indio. Father Naharro. Yet they are Procuran sacar dellos quanto pue- not irreconcilable. Human nature den, trabajarles en grangerias ; con has both its lights and its shadows, esto i con otras limosnas enrique- 9 I have several of these Me- cen. Mai egemplo. Ademas con- morials or Relaciones, as they are vendra no pasen frailes sino prece- called, in my possession, drawn up diendo diligente examen de vida i by residents in answer to queries dotrina." (Relacion de las cosas propounded by government. These que S. M. deve pro veer para los queries, while their great object is reynos del Peru, embiada desde los to ascertain the nature of existing Reyes a la Corte por el Licenciado abuses, and to invite the suggestion Martel Santoyo, de quien va firma- of remedies, are often directed to da en principios de 1542, MS.) the laws and usages of the ancient LH. VII.] CODE FOR THE COLONIES. 251 In 1541, Charles the Fifth, who had been much occupied by the affairs of Germany, revisited his an- cestral dominions, where his attention was impera- tively called to the state of the colonies. Several memorials in relation to it were laid before him ; but no one pressed the matter so strongly on the royal conscience as Las Casas, afterwards Bish- op of Chiapa. This good ecclesiastic, whose long life had been devoted to those benevolent labors which gained him the honorable title of Protector of the Indians, had just completed his celebrated treatise on the Destruction of the Indies, the most remarkable record, probably, to be found, of human wickedness, but which, unfortunately, loses much of its effect from the credulity of the writer, and his obvious tendency to exaggerate. In 1542, Las Casas placed his manuscript in the hands of his royal master. That same year, a coun- cil was called at Valladolid, composed chiefly of jurists and theologians, to devise a system of laws for the regulation of the American colonies. Las Casas appeared before this body, and made an elaborate argument, of which a part only has Incas. The responses, therefore, reports without a deep conviction are of great value to the historical of the pains taken by the Crown inquirer. The most important of to ascertain the nature of the abuses these documents in my possession in the domestic government of the is that by Ondegardo, governor of colonies, and their honest purpose Cuzco, covering near four hundred to amend them. Unfortunately, folio pages, once forming part of in this laudable purpose they were Lord Kingsborough's valuable col- not often seconded by the colonists ection. It is impossible to peruse themselves, these elaborate and conscientious 252 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boou IV. been given to the public. He there assumes, as a fundamental proposition, that the Indians were by the law of nature free ; that, as vassals of the Crown, they had a right to its protection, and should be declared free from that time, without exception and for ever.10 He sustains this proposition by a great variety of arguments, comprehending the sub- stance of most that has been since urged in the same cause by the friends of humanity. He touch- es on the ground of expediency, showing, that, without the interference of government, the Indian race must be gradually exterminated by the syste- matic oppression of the Spaniards. In conclusion, he maintains, that, if the Indians, as it was pre- tended, would not labor unless compelled, the white man would still find it for his interest to cultivate the soil ; and that if he should not be able to do so, that circumstance would give him no right over the Indian, since God does not allow evil that good may come of it.11 — This lofty morality, it will be re- 10 The perpetual emancipation servieios, dandolos por causa para of the Indians is urged in the most que los dexen servir de los indios emphatic manner by another bishop, como de esclavos : V. M. se los also a Dominican, but bearing cer- tiene mui bien pagados en los pro- tainly very little resemblance to Las vechos que han avido desta tierra, Casas. Fray Valverde makes this y no los ha de pagar con hazer a one of the prominent topics in a sus vasallos esclavos." Carta de communication, already cited, to the Valverde al Emperador, MS. government, the general scope of n " La loi de Dieu defend de which must be admitted to do more faire le mal pour qu'il en resulte credit to his humanity than some dubien." CEuvres de Las Casas, of the passages recorded of him in eveque de Chiapa, trad, par Llo- history. — " A V. M. representa- rente, (Paris, 1822,) torn. I. p. ran alia los conquistadores muchos 251. CH. VII.] CODE FOR THE COLONIES. 253 membered, was from the lips of a Dominican, in the sixteenth century, one of the order that founded the Inquisition, and in the very country where the fiery tribunal was then in most active operation ! 12 The arguments of Las Casas encountered all the opposition naturally to be expected from indiffer- ence, selfishness, and bigotry. They were also re- sisted by some persons of just and benevolent views in his audience, who, while they admitted the gen- eral correctness of his reasoning, and felt deep sym- pathy for the wrongs of the natives, yet doubted whether his scheme of reform was not fraught with greater evils than those it was intended to correct. For Las Casas was the uncompromising friend of freedom. He intrenched himself strongly on the ground of natural right ; and, like some of the re- formers of our own day, disdained to calculate the consequences of carrying out the principle to its full and unqualified extent. His earnest eloquence, in- stinct with the generous love of humanity, and for- tified by a host of facts, which it was not easy to assail, prevailed over his auditors. The result of their deliberations was a code of ordinances, which, however, far from being limited to the wants of the 12 It is a curious coincidence, ics of such interest to humanity, that this argument of Las Casas should not have been more freely should have been first published — consulted, or at least cited, by in a translated form, indeed — by those who have since trod in his a secretary of the Inquisition, footsteps. They are an arsenal Llorente. The original still re- from which many a serviceable mains in MS. It is singular that weapon for the good cause might these volumes, containing the views be borrowed, of this great philanthropist on top- CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. natives, had particular reference to the European population, and the distractions of the country. It was of general application to all the American colonies. It will be necessary here only to point out some of the provisions having immediate refer- ence to Peru. The Indians were declared true and loyal vassals of the Crown, and their freedom as such was fully recognized. Yet, to maintain inviolate the guaran- ty of the government to the Conquerors, it was de- cided, that those lawfully possessed of slaves might still retain them ; but, at the death of the present proprietors, they were to revert to the Crown. It was provided, however, that slaves, in any event, should be forfeited by all those who had shown themselves unworthy to hold them by neglect or ill-usage ; by all public functionaries, or such as had held offices under the government ; by eccle- siastics and religious corporations ; and lastly, — a sweeping clause, — by all who had taken a criminal part in the feuds of Almagro and Pizarro. It was further ordered, that the Indians should be moderately taxed ; that they should not be compelled to labor where they did not choose, and that where, from particular circumstances, this was made neces- sary, they should receive a fair compensation. It was also decreed, that, as the repartimientos of land were often excessive, they should in such cases be reduced ; and that, where proprietors had been guilty of a notorious abuse of their slaves, their estates should be forfeited altogether. Ce. VII.] CODE FOR THE COLONIES. 255 As Peru had always shown a spirit of insubordi- nation, which required a more vigorous interposition of authority than was necessary in the other colo- nies, it was resolved to send a viceroy to that coun- try, who should display a state, and be armed with powers, that might make him a more fitting repre- sentative of the sovereign. He was to be accom- panied by a Royal Audience, consisting of four judges, with extensive powers of jurisdiction, both criminal and civil, who, besides a court of justice, should constitute a sort of council to advise with and aid the viceroy. The Audience of Panama was to be dissolved, and the new tribunal, with the vice- king's court, was to be established at Los Reyes, or Lima, as it now began to be called, — henceforth the metropolis of the Spanish empire on the Pacific.13 Such were some of the principal features of this remarkable code, which, touching on the most del- icate relations of society, broke up the very founda- tions of property, and, by a stroke of the pen, as it were, converted a nation of slaves into freemen. It would have required, we may suppose, but little forecast to divine, that in the remote regions of America, and especially in Peru, where the colo- nists had been hitherto accustomed to unbounded license, a reform, so salutary in essential points, could be enforced thus summarily only at the price 13 The provisions of this cele- writers. Herrera gives them in brated code are to be found, with extenso. Hist. General, dec. 7, more or less — generally less — ac- lib. 6, cap. 5. curacy, in the various contemporary 256 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. of a revolution. — Yet the ordinances received the sanction of the emperor that same year, and in November, 1543, were published at Madrid.14 No sooner was their import known than it was conveyed by numerous letters to the colonists, from their friends in Spain. The tidings flew like wild- fire over the land, from Mexico to Chili. Men were astounded at the prospect of the ruin that awaited them. In Peru, particularly, there was scarcely one that could hope to escape the operation of the law. Few there were who had not taken part, at some time or other, in the civil feuds of Almagro and Pizarro ; and still fewer of those that remained that would not be entangled in some one or other of the insidious clauses that seemed spread out, like a web, to ensnare them. The whole country was thrown into commotion. Men assembled tumultuously in the squares and public places, and, as the regulations were made known, they were received with universal groans and hisses. " Is this the fruit," they cried, " of all our toil? Is it for this that we have poured out our blood like water ? Now that we are broken down by hardships and sufferings, to be left at the end of our campaigns as poor as at the beginning ! Is this the way government rewards our services in mi'i*< && |# ?Jttc v. l* Las Casas pressed the matter elusive condition of converting the home on the royal conscience, by heathen, and that the Almighty representing that the Papal See would hold him accountable for the conceded the right of conquest to execution of this trust. CEuvres the Spanish sovereigns on the ex- de Las Casas, ubi supra. CH. VII.] GREAT EXCITEMENT IN PERU. , 257 whining for it an empire ? The government has done little to aid us in making the conquest, and for what we have. we may thank our own good swords; and with these same swords," they continued, warming into menace, " we know how to defend it." Then, stripping up his sleeve, the war-worn veteran bared his arm, or, exposing his naked bosom, pointed to his scars, as the best title to his estates.15 The governor, Vaca de Castro, watched the storm thus gathering from all quarters, with the deepest concern. He was himself in the very heart of .dis- affection ; for Cuzco, tenanted by a mixed and law- less population, was so far removed into the depths of the mountains, that it had much less intercourse with the parent country, and was consequently much less under her influence, than the great towns on the coast. The people now invoked the govern- or to protect them against the tyranny of the Court ; but he endeavoured to calm the agitation by repre- senting, that by these violent measures they would only defeat their own object. He counselled them to name deputies to lay their petition before the 15 Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a reduce the country to beggary. Pedro de Valdivia, MS., desde Los Benalcazar was a conqueror, and Reyes, 31 de Oct., 1538. — Zarate, one of the most respectable of his Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, cap. 1. — caste. His argument is a good Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 7, specimen of the reasoning of his lib. 6, cap. 10, 11. party on this subject, and presents Benalcazar, in a letter to Charles a decided counterblast to that of the Fifth, indulges in a strain of Las Casas. Carta de Benalcazar al invective against the ordinances, Emperador, MS., desde Cali, 20 which, by stripping the planters of de Diciembre, 1544. their Indian slaves, must inevitably VOL. II. 33 258 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. Crown, stating the impracticability of the present scheme of reform, and praying for the repeal of it ; and he conjured them to wait patiently for the ar- rival of the viceroy, who might be prevailed on to suspend the ordinances till further advices could be received from Castile. But it was not easy to still the tempest; and the people now eagerly looked for some one whose in- terests and sympathies might lie with theirs, and whose position in the community might afford them protection. The person to whom they naturally turned in this crisis was Gonzalo Pizarro, the last in the land of that family who had led the armies of the Conquest, — a cavalier whose gallantry and pop- ular manners had made him always a favorite with the people. He was now beset with applications to interpose in their behalf with the government, and shield them from the oppressive ordinances. But Gonzalo Pizarro was at Charcas, busily occu- pied in exploring the rich veins of Potosi, whose silver fountains, just brought into light, were soon to pour such streams of wealth over Europe. Though gratified with this appeal to his protection, the cautious cavalier was more intent on providing for the means of enterprise than on plunging pre- maturely into it ; and, while he secretly encouraged the malecontents, he did not commit himself by tak- ing part in any revolutionary movement. At the same period, he received letters from Vaca de Cas- tro, — whose vigilant eye watched all the aspects of the time, — cautioning Gonzalo and his friends not CH. VII.] BLASCO NUfrEZ THE VICEROY. 259 to be seduced, by any wild schemes of .reform, from their allegiance. And, to check still further these disorderly movements, he ordered his alcaldes to arrest every man guilty of seditious language, and bring him at once to punishment. By this firm yet temperate conduct the- minds of the populace were overawed, and there was a temporary lull in the troubled waters, while all looked anxiously for the coming of the viceroy.16 The person selected for this critical post was a knight of Avila, named Blasco Nunez Vela. He was a cavalier of ancient family, handsome in per- son, though now somewhat advanced in years, and reputed brave and devout. He had filled some offices of responsibility to the satisfaction of Charles the Fifth, by whom he was now appointed to this post in Peru. The selection did no credit to the monarch's discernment. It may seem strange that this important place should not have been bestowed on Vaca de Castro, already on the spot, and who had shown himself so well qualified to fill^ it. But ever since that officer's mission to Peru, there had been a series of assassinations, insurrections, and civil wars, that menaced the wretched colony with ruin ; and, though his wise administration had now brought things into order, the communication with the In- dies was so tardy, that the results of his policy were 16 Ibid., ubi supra. — Zarate, Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Val- Conq. del Peru, ubi supra. — Pedro divia, MS. — Montesinos, Annales, Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — MS., ano 1543. 260 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boo* IV. not yet fully disclosed. As it was designed, more- over, to make important innovations in the govern- ment, it was thought better to send some one who would have no personal prejudices to encounter, from the part he had already taken, and who. coming directly from the Court, and clothed with extraordinary powers, might present himself with greater authority than could one who had become familiar to the people in an inferior capacity. The monarch, however, wrote a letter with his own hand to Vaca de Castro, in which he thanked that officer for his past services, and directed him, after aiding the new viceroy with the fruits of his large experience, to return to Castile, and take his seat in the Royal Council. Letters of a similar compli- mentary kirid were sent to the loyal colonists who had stood by the governor in the late troubles of the country. Freighted with these testimonials, and with the ill-starred ordinances, Blasco Nunez em- barked at San Lucar, on the 3d of November, 1543. He was attended by ' the four judges of the Au- dience, and by a numerous retinue, that he might appear in the state befitting his distinguished rank.17 About the middle of the following January, 1544, the viceroy, after a favorable passage, landed at Nombre de Dios. He found there a vessel laden with silver from the Peruvian mines, ready to sail for Spain. His first act was to lay an embargo on !7 Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, Parte Valdivia, MS. — Herrera, Hist. 1, lib. 1, cap. 6. — Zarate, MS. General, dec. 7, lib. 6, cap. 9. — * I CH. VII.] HIS SEVERE POLICY. 261 it for the government, as containing the proceeds of slave labor. After this extraordinary measure, taken in opposition to the advice of the Audience, he crossed the Isthmus to Panama. Here he gave sure token of his future policy, by causing more than three hundred Indians, who had been brought by their owners from Peru, to be liberated and sent back to their own country. This high-handed measure created the greatest sensation in the city, and was strongly resisted by the judges of the Audi- ence. They besought him not to begin thus precipi- tately to execute his commission, but to wait till his arrival in the colony,* when he should have taken time to acquaint himself somewhat with the country, and with the temper of the people. But Blasco Nunez coldly replied, that "he had come, not to tamper with the laws, nor to discuss their merits, but to execute them, — and execute them he would, to the letter, whatever might be the consequence. " ls This answer, and the peremptory tone in which it was delivered, promptly adjourned the debate ; for the judges saw. that debate was useless with one who seemed to consider all remonstrance as an at- tempt to turn him from his duty, and whose ideas of duty precluded all discretionary exercise of au- thority, even where the public good demanded it. 18 " Estas y otras cosas le dixo de executar las ordenan$as como el Licenciado Carate : que no fueron en ellas se contenia : sin esperar al gusto del Virey : antes se enojo para ello terminos algunos, ni dila- mucho por ello, y respondio con clones." Fernandez, Hist, del alguna aspereza : jurando, que auia Peru, Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 6. 262 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. Leaving the Audience, as one of its body was ill, at Panama, the viceroy proceeded on his way, and, coasting down the shores of the Pacific, on the fourth of March he disembarked at Tumbez. He was well received by the loyal inhabitants ; his authority was publicly proclaimed, and the people were over- awed by the display of a magnificence and state such as had not till then been seen in Peru. He took an early occasion to intimate his future line of policy by liberating a number of Indian slaves on the application of their caciques. He then proceed- ed by land towards the south, and showed his deter- mination to conform in his own person to the strict letter of the ordinances, by causing his baggage to be carried by mules, where it was practicable ; and where absolutely necessary to make use of Indians, he paid them fairly for their services.19 The whole country was thrown into consternation by reports of the proceedings of the viceroy, and of his conversations, most unguarded, which were eagerly circulated, and, no doubt, often exagger- ated. Meetings were again called in the cities. Discussions were held on the expediency of resisting his further progress, and a deputation of citizens from Cuzco, who were then in Lima, strongly urged the people to close the gates of that capital against him. But Vaca de Castro had also left Cuzco for the latter city, on the earliest intimation of the vice- is Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. zalo Pizarro a Valdivia, MS. — 5, cap. 2. — Fernandez, Hist, del Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano Peru, ubi supra. — Carta de Gon- 1544. CH. VII.] OPPOSED BY GONZALO PIZARRO. 263 roy's approach, and, with some difficulty, he pre- vailed on the inhabitants not to swerve from their . loyalty, but to receive their new ruler with suitable honors, and trust to his calmer judgment for post- poning the execution of the law till the case could ; be laid before the throne. 1 But the great body of the Spaniards, after what they had heard, had slender confidence in the relief to be obtained from this quarter. They now turned with more eagerness than ever towards Gonzalo Pi- zarro; and letters and addresses poured in upon him from ail parts of the country, inviting him to take on himself the office of their protector. These applica- tions found a more favorable response than on the former occasion. There were, indeed, many motives at work to call Gonzalo into action. It was to his family, mainly, that Spain was indebted for this extension of her colonial empire ; and he had felt deeply ag- grieved that the government of the colony should be trusted to other hands than his. He had felt this on the arrival of Vaca de Castro, and much more so when the appointment of a viceroy proved it to be the settled policy of the Crown to exclude his family from the management of affairs. His brother Hernando still languished in prison, and he himself was now to be sacrificed as the principal victim of the fatal ordinances* For who had taken so promi- nent a part in the civil war with the elder Almagro ? And the viceroy was currently reported — it may have been scandal — to have intimated that Pizarro 264 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [ BOOK IV. would be dealt with accordingly.20 Yet there was no one in the country who had so great a stake, who had so much to lose by the revolution. Abandoned thus by the government, he conceived that it was now time to take care of himself. Assembling together some eighteen or twenty cavaliers in whom he most trusted, and taking a large amount of silver., drawn from the mines, he accepted the invitation to repair to Cuzco. As he approached this capital, he was met by a numer- ous body of the citizens, who came out to welcome him, making the air ring with their shouts, as they saluted him with the title of Procurator- General of Peru. The title was speedily confirmed by the mu- nicipality of the city, who invited him to head a deputation to Lima, in order to state their griev- ances to the viceroy, and solicit the present suspen- sion of the ordinances. But the spark of ambition was kindled in the bosom of Pizarro. He fek strong in the affections of the people ; and, from the more elevated position in which he now stood, his desires took a loftier and 30 " It was not fair," the viceroy dos en la batalla de las Salinas i en said, " that the country should re- las diferencias de Almagro, i que main longer in the hands of mulet- una tierra como esta no era justo eers and swineherds, (alluding to que estuviese en poder de gente the origin of the Pizarros,) and he tan vaxa que llamava el a los desta would take measures to restore it tierra porqueros i arrieros, sino que to the Crown." estuviese toda en la Corona real." " Que asi me la havia de cortar Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdi- a mi i a todos los que havian seido via, MS. notablemente, como el decia, culpa- CH. VII.] OPPOSED BY GONZALO PIZARRO. 265" more unbounded range. Yet, if he harboured a criminal ambition in his breast, he skilfully veiled it from others, — perhaps from himself. The only ob- ject he professed to have in view was the good of the people ; 21 a suspicious phrase, usually meaning the good of the individual. He now demanded permission to raise and organize an armed force, with the further title of Captain -General. His views were entirely pacific ; but it was not safe, un- less strongly protected, to urge them on a person of the viceroy's impatient and arbitrary temper. It was further contended by Pizarro's friends, that such a force was demanded, to rid the country of their old enemy, the Inca Manco, who hovered in the neighbouring mountains with a body of warriors, ready, at the first opportunity, to descend on the Spaniards. The municipality of Cuzco hesitated, as well it might, to confer powers so far beyond its legitimate authority. But Pizarro avowed his pur- pose, in case of refusal, to decline the office of Pro- curator ; and the efforts of his partisans, backed by those of the people, at length silenced the scruples of the magistrates, who bestowed on the ambitious chief the military command to which he aspired. Pizarro accepted it with the modest assurance, that he did so " purely from regard to the inter- ests of the king, of the Indies, and, above all, of Peru " ! 22 21 " Diciendo que no queria na- rera, Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 7, da para si, sino para el beneficio cap. 20. universal, i que por todos havia de ^ " Acepte lo por ver que en poner todas sus fuer§as." Her- ello hacia servicio a Dios i a S. M. VOL. II. 34 266 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boon IV. i gran bien a esta tierra i general- del Peru, lib. 5, cap. 4, 8. — Fer- mente a todas las Indias." Car- nandez, Hist, del Peru, Parte 1, ta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, lib. 1, cap. 8. — Carta de Gonzalo MS. Pizarro a Valdivia, MS. — Mon- Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 7, tesinos, Annales, MS., afio 1544. lib. 7, cap. 19, 20.— Zarate, Conq. CHAPTER VIII. THE VICEROY ARRIVES AT LIMA. — GONZALO PIZARRO MARCHES FROM Cuzco. — DEATH OF THE INCA MANCO. — RASH CONDUCT OF THE VICEROY. — SEIZED AND DEPOSED BY THE AUDIENCE. — GON- ZALO PROCLAIMED GOVERNOR OF PERU. 1544. WHILE the events recorded in the preceding pages were in progress, Blasco Nunez had been journeying towards Lima. But the alienation which his conduct had already caused in the minds of the colonists was shown in the cold reception which he occasionally experienced on the route, and in the scanty accommodations provided for him and his retinue. In one place where he. took up his quar- ters, he found an ominous inscription over the door : — " He that takes my property must expect to pay for it with his life." * Neither daunted, nor diverted from his purpose, the inflexible viceroy held on his way towards the capital, where the inhabitants, pre- ceded by Vaca de Castro and the municipal authori- ties, came out to receive him. He entered in great state, under a canopy of crimson cloth, embroidered with the arms of Spain, and supported by stout poles 1 "A quien me viniere a quitar Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 7, mi hacienda, quitarle he la vida." lib. 7, cap, 18. 268 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boon IV. or staves of solid silver, which were borne by the members of the municipality. A cavalier, holding a mace, the emblem of authority, rode before him ; and after the oaths of office were administered in the council-chamber, the procession moved towards the cathedral, where Te Deum was sung, and Blasco Nunez was installed in his new dignity of viceroy of Peru.2 His first act was to proclaim his determination in respect to the ordinances. He had no warrant to suspend their execution. He should fulfil his com- mission ; but he offered to join the colonists in a memorial to the emperor, soliciting the repeal of a code which he now believed would be for the in- terests neither of the country nor of the Crown.3 With this avowed view of the subject, it may seem strange that Blasco Nunez should not have taken 2 " Entro en la cibdad de Lima de las guardar y cumplir todas sus a 17 de Mayo de 1544 : saliole a libertades y provisiones de S. M. ; recibir todo el pueblo a pie y a y luego fueron desta manera hasta caballo dos tiros de ballesta del la iglesia, salieron los clerigos con pueblo, y a la entrada de la cibdad la cruz a la puerta y le metieron estaba un arco triunfal de verde dentro cantando Te deum laudamus, con las Armas de Espafia, y las y despuesque obodicho su oracion, de la misma cibdad ; estaban le fue con el cabildo y toda la ciudad esperando el Regimiento y Justi- a su palacio donde fue recebido y cia, y oficiales del Rey con ropas hizo un parlamento breve en que largas, hasta en pies de carmesi, contento a toda la gente." Rela- y un palio del mesmo carmesi cion de los sucesos del Peru desde aforrado en lo mesmo, con ocho que entro el virrey Blasco Nunez baras guarnecidas de plata y toma- acaecidos en mar y tierra, MS. ronle debajo todos a pie, cada Re- 3 " Porque llanamente el confe- gidor y justicia con una bara del saba, que asi para su Magestad, palio, y el Virrey en su caballo como para aquellos Reinos, eran con las mazas delante tomaronle perjudiciales." Zarate, Conq. del juramento en un libro misal, y juro Peru, lib. 5, cap. 5. CH. VIII.] GONZALO PIZARRO MARCHES FROM CUZCO. 269 the responsibility of suspending the law until his sovereign could be assured of the inevitable conse- quences of enforcing it. The pacha of a Turkish despot, who had allowed himself this latitude for the interests of his master, might, indeed, have reckoned on the bowstring. But the example of Mendoza, the prudent viceroy of Mexico, who adopted this course in a similar crisis, and precisely at the same period, showed its propriety under existing circum- stances. The ordinances were suspended by him till the Crown could be warned of the consequences of enforcing them, — and Mexico was saved from revolution.4 But Blasco Nunez had not the wisdom of Mendoza. The public apprehension was now far from being allayed. 'Secret cabals were formed in Lima, and communications held with the different towns. No distrust, however, was raised in the breast of the viceroy, and, when informed of the preparations of Gonzalo Pizarro, he took no other step than to send a message to his camp, announcing the extraordinary powers with which he was himself invested, and requiring that chief to disband his forces. He seemed to think that a mere word from him would be sufficient to dissipate rebellion. But it required more than a breath to scatter the iron soldiery of Peru. Gonzalo Pizarro, meanwhile, was busily occu- pied in mustering his army. His first step was to 4 Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 2-5. 270 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. order from Guamanga sixteen pieces of artillery, sent there by Vaca de Castro, who, in the present state of excitement, was unwilling to trust the vola- tile people of Cuzco with these implements of de- struction. Gonzalo, who had no scruples as to Indian labor, appropriated six thousand of the na- tives to the service of transporting this train of ordnance across the mountains.5 By his exertions and those of his friends, the active chief soon mustered a force of nearly four hundred men, which, if not ;very imposing in the outset, he conceived would be swelled, in his descent to the coast, by tributary levies from the towns and villages on the way. AH his own .funds were ex- pended in equipping his men and providing for the march; and, to supply deficiencies, he made no scruple — since, to use his words, it was for the public interest — to appropriate the moneys in the royal treasury. With this seasonable aid, his troops, well mounted and thoroughly equipped, were put in excellent fighting order ; and, after making them a brief harangue, in which he was careful to insist on the pacific character of his enterprise, somewhat at variance with its military preparations, Gonzalo Pizarro sallied forth from the gates of the capital. Before leaving it, he received an important acces- sion of strength in the person of Francisco de Car- bajal, the veteran who performed so conspicuous a part in the battle of Chupas. He was at Charcas 5 Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, cap. 8. Ce. VIII.] DEATH OF THE INCA MANCO. 271 when the news of the ordinances reached Peru ; and he instantly resolved to quit the country and re- turn to Spain, convinced that the New World would be no longer the land for him, — no longer the golden Indies. Turning his effects into money, he prepared to embark them on board the first ship that offered. But no opportunity occurred, and he could have little expectation now of escaping the vigilant eye of the viceroy. Yet, though solicited by Pizar- ro to take command under him in the present expe- dition, the veteran declined, saying, he was eighty years old, and had no wish but to return home, and spend his few remaining days in quiet.6 Well had it been for him, had he persisted in his refusal. But he yielded to the importunities of his friend ; and the short space that yet remained to him of life proved long enough to brand his memory with per- petual infamy. Soon after quitting Cuzco, Pizarro learned the death of the Inca Manco. He was massacred by a party of Spaniards, of the faction of Almagro, who, on the defeat of their young leader, had taken ref- uge in the Indian camp. They, in turn; were all slain by the Peruvians. It is impossible to deter- mine on whom the blame of the quarrel should rest, since no one present at the time has recorded it.7 The death of Manco Inca, as he was com- monly called, is an event not to be silently passed 6 Herrera, Hist. General, dec. Conq., MS. — Garcilasso, Com. 7, lib. 7, cap. 22. Real., Parte 2, lib. 4, cap. 7. 7 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y 272 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. over in Peruvian history ; for he was the last of his race that may be said to have been animated by the heroic spirit of the ancient Incas. Though placed on the throne by Pizarro, far from remaining a mere puppet in his hands, Manco soon showed that his lot was not to be cast with that of his conquerors. With the ancient institutions of his country lying a wreck around him, he yet struggled bravely, like Guatemozin, the last of the Aztecs, to uphold her tottering fortunes, or to bury his oppres- sors under her ruins. By the assault on his own capital of Cuzco, in which so large a portion of it was demolished, he gave a check to the arms of Pizarro, and, for a season, the fate of the Con- querors trembled in the balance. Though foiled, in the end, by the superior science of his adversary, the young barbarian still showed the same uncon- querable spirit as before. • He withdrew into the fastnesses of his native mountains, whence sallying forth as occasion offered, he fell on the caravan of the traveller, or on some scattered party of the mili- tary ; and, in the event of a civil war, was sure to throw his own weight into the weaker scale, thus prolonging the contest of his enemies, and feeding his revenge by the sight of their calamities. Mov- ing lightly from spot to spot, he eluded pursuit amidst the wilds of the Cordilleras; and, hovering in the neighbourhood of the towns, or lying in am- bush on the great thoroughfares of the country, the Inca Manco made his name a terror to the Spaniards. Often did they hold out to him terms CH. VIII.] DEATH OF THE INCA MANCO. 273 of accommodation ; and every succeeding ruler, down to Blasco Nunez, bore instructions from the Crown to employ every art to conciliate the formi- dable warrior. But Manco did not trust the promises of the white man ; and he chose rather to maintain his savage independence in the mountains^ with the few brave spirits around him, than to live a slave in the land which had once owned the sway of his ancestors. The death of the Inca removed one of the great pretexts for Gonzalo Pizarro's military preparations ; but it had little influence on him, as may be readily imagined. He was much more sensible to the de- sertion of some of his followers, which took place early on the march. Several of the cavaliers of Cuzco, startled by his unceremonious appropriation of the public moneys, and by the belligerent aspect of affairs, now for the first time seemed to realize that they were in the path of rebellion* A number of these, including some principal men of the city, secretly withdrew from the army, and, hasten- ing to Lima, offered their services to the viceroy. The troops were disheartened by this desertion, and even Pizarro for a moment faltered in his purpose, and thought of retiring with some fifty followers to Charcas, and there making his composition with government. But a little reflection, aided by the re- monstrances of the courageous Carbajal, who never turned his back on an enterprise which he had once assumed, convinced him that he had gone too far to recede, — that his only safety was to advance. VOL. II. 35 274 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boos IV. He was reassured by more decided manifesta- tions, which he soon after received, of the public opinion. An officer named Puelles, who command- ed at Guanuco, joined him, with a body of horse with which he had been intrusted by the viceroy. This defection was followed by that of others, and Gonzalo, as he descended the sides of the table-land, found his numbers gradually swelled to nearly dou- ble the amount with which he had left the Indian capital. As he traversed with a freer step the bloody field of Chupas, Carbajal pointed out the various locali- ties of the battle-ground, and Pizarro might have found food for anxious reflection, as he meditated on the fortunes of a rebel. At Guamanga he was received with open arms by the inhabitants, many of whom eagerly enlisted under his banner ; for they trembled for their property, as they heard from all quarters of the inflexible temper of the viceroy.8 .- That functionary began now to be convinced that he was in a critical position. Before Puelles's treachery, above noticed, had been consummated, the viceroy had received some vague intimation of his purpose. Though scarcely crediting it, he detached one of his company, named Diaz, with a force to in- tercept him. But, although that cavalier undertook the mission with alacrity, he was soon after pre- 8 Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, dec. 7, lib. 8, oap. 5-9. — Carta Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 14, 16. — Za- de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, rate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, cap. MS. — Relation de los Sucesos 9, 10. — Herrera, Hist. General, del Peru, MS. CH. VIII.] RASH CONDUCT OF THE VICEROY. 275 vailed on to follow the example of his comrade, and, with the greater part of the men under his com- mand, went over to the enemy. In the civil feuds of this unhappy land, parties changed sides so light- ly, that treachery to a commander had almost ceased to be a stain on the honor of a cavalier. Yet all, on whichever side they cast their fortunes, loudly proclaimed their loyalty to the Crown. Thus betrayed by his own men, by those ap- parently most devoted to his service, Blasco Nunez became suspicious of every one around him. Unfor- tunately, his suspicions fell on some who were most deserving of his confidence. Among these was his predecessor, Vaca de Castro. That officer had con- ducted himself, in the delicate situation in which he had been placed, with his usual discretion, and with perfect integrity and honor. He had frankly com- municated with the viceroy, and well had it been for Blasco Nunez, if he had known how to profit by it. But he was- too much puffed up by the arro- gance of office, and by the conceit of his own su- perior wisdom, to defer much to the counsels of his experienced predecessor. The latter was now sus- pected by the viceroy of maintaining a secret cor- respondence with his enemies at Cuzco, — a sus- picion which seems, to have had no better foundation than the personal friendship which Vaca de Castro was known to entertain for these individuals. But, with Blasco Nunez, to suspect was to be convinced ; and he ordered De Castro to be placed under ar- rest, and confined on board of a vessel lying in 276 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. the harbour. This high-handed measure was fol- lowed by the arrest and imprisonment of several other cavaliers, probably on grounds equally frivo- lous.9 He now turned his attention towards the enemy. Notwithstanding his former failure, he still did not altogether despair of effecting something by nego- tiation, and he sent another embassy, having the bishop of Lima at its head, to Gonzalo Pizarro's camp, with promises of a general amnesty, and some proposals of a more tempting character to the commander. But this step, while it proclaimed his own weakness, had no better success than the pre- ceding.10 The viceroy now vigorously prepared for war. His first care was to put the capital in a posture of defence, by strengthening its fortifications, and throwing barricades across the streets. He ordered a general enrolment of the citizens, and called in levies from the neighbouring towns, — a call not very promptly answered. A squadron of eight or ten vessels was got ready in the port to act in con- cert with the land forces. The bells were taken from the churches, and used in the manufacture of muskets;11 and funds were procured from the ,, 9 Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, lest his presence should shake the cap. 3. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. constancy of the soldiers. (See y Conq., MS. — Fernandez, Hist. Relacion de los Sucesos del Peru, del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 10. MS.) The account occupies more W> Loaysa, the bishop, was space than it deserves in most of robbed of his despatches, and not the authorities, even allowed to enter the camp, n " Hi§o hacer gran Copia de CH. VIII.] RASH CONDUCT OF THE VICEROY. 277 fifths which had accumulated in the royal treasury. The most extravagant bounty was offered to the sol- diers, and prices were paid for mules and horses, which showed that gold, or rather silver, was the commodity of least value in Peru.12 By these ef- forts, the active commander soon assembled a force considerably larger than that of his adversary. But how could he confide in it ? While these preparations were going forward, the judges of the Audience arrived at Lima. They had shown, throughout their progress, no great re- spect either for the ordinances, or the will of the viceroy ; for they had taxed the poor natives as free- ly and unscrupulously as any of the Conquerors. We have seen the entire want of cordiality subsist- ing between them and their principal in Panama. It became more apparent, on their landing at Lima. They disapproved of his proceedings in every par- ticular ; of his refusal to suspend the ordinances, — although, in fact, he had found no opportunity, of late, to enforce them ; of his preparations for de- fence, declaring that he ought rather trust to the effect of negotiation ; and, finally, of his imprison- Arcabuces, asi de Hierro, como de Hacienda Real, treinta i cinco Ma- Fundicion, de ciertas Campanas de chos, en que hiciesen la Jornada, la Iglesia Maior, que para ello que costaron mas de doce mil du- quit6." Zarate, Conq. del Peru, cados." (Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, cap. 6. lib. 5, cap. 10.) The South- 12 Blasco Nunez paid, according- American of our day might well to Zarate, who had the means of be surprised at such prices for ani- knowing, twelve thousand ducats mals since so abundant in his coun for thirty-five mules. — "El Vi- try, eorrei les mando comprar, de la 278 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. ment of so many loyal cavaliers, which they pro- nounced an arbitrary act, altogether beyond the bounds of his authority; and they did not scruple to visit the prison in person, and discharge the cap- tives from their confinement.13 This bold proceeding, while it conciliated the good-will of the people, severed, at once, all rela- tions with the viceroy. There was in the Au- dience a lawyer, named Cepeda, a cunning, am- bitious man, with considerable knowledge in the way of his profession, and with still greater talent for intrigue. He did not disdain the low arts of a demagogue to gain the favor of the populace, and trusted to find his own account in fomenting a mis- understanding with Blasco Nunez. The latter, it must be confessed, did all in his power to aid his counsellor in this laudable design. A certain cavalier in the place, named Suarez de Carbajal, who had long held an office under gov- ernment, fell under the viceroy's displeasure, on suspicion of conniving at the secession of some of his kinsmen, who had lately taken part with the malecontents. The viceroy summoned Carbajal to attend him at his palace, late at night ; and when conducted to his presence, he bluntly charged him with treason. The latter stoutly denied the ac- cusation, in tones as haughty as those of his ac- cuser. The altercation grew warm, until, in the 13 Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, 2, 10. — Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 10. — Herrera, a Valdivia, MS. Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 8, cap. CH. VIIL] RASH CONDUCT OF THE VICEROY. 279 heat of passion, Blasco Nunez struck him with his poniard. In an instant, the attendants, taking this as a signal, plunged their swords into the body of the unfortunate man, who fell lifeless on the floor.14 Greatly alarmed for the consequences of his rash act, — for Carbajal was much, beloved in Lima, —- Blasco Nunez ordered the corpse of the murdered man to be removed by a private stairway from the house, and carried to the cathedral, where, rolled in his bloody cloak, it was laid in a grave hastily dug to receive it. So tragic a proceeding, known to so many witnesses, could not long be kept secret. Vague rumors of the fact explained the mysterious disappearance of Carbajal. The grave was opened, and the mangled remains of the slaughtered cavalier established the guilt of the viceroy.15 From this hour Blasco Nunez was held in univer- sal abhorrence ; and his crime, in this instance, 14 " He struck him in the bosom prudent to qualify his remark be- with his dagger, as some say, but fore publication. — " They say," the viceroy denies it." — So says says another contemporary, familiar Zarate, in the printed copy of his with these events and friendly to history. (Lib. 5, cap. 11.) In the the viceroy, " that he gave him original manuscript of this work,-still several wounds with his dagger." extant at Simancas, he states the And he makes no attempt to refute fact without any qualification at all. the charge. (Relacion de los Su- " Luego el dicho Virrei echo mano cesos del Peru, MS.) Indeed, this a una daga, i arremetio con el, i le version of the story seems to have dio una punalada, i a grandes voces been generally received at the time mando que le matasen." (Zarate, by those who had the best means MS.) This was doubtless his of knowing the truth, honest conviction, when on the 15 Zarate, Conq. del Peru, ubi spot soon after the event occurred, supra. The politic historian thought it 280 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [ BOOK IV. assumed the deeper dje of ingratitude, since the deceased was known to have had the greatest in- fluence in reconciling the citizens early to his gov- ernment. No one knew where the blow would fall next, or how soon he might himself become the vic- tim of the ungovernable passions of the viceroy. In this state of things, some looked to the Audi- ence, and yet more to Gonzalo Pizarro, to protect them. That chief was slowly advancing towards Lima, from which, indeed, he was removed but a few days' march. Greatly perplexed, Blasco Nunez now felt the loneliness of his condition. Standing aloof, as it were, from his own followers, thwarted by the Audience, betrayed by his soldiers, he might well feel the consequences of his misconduct. Yet there seemed no other course for him, but either to march out and meet the enemy, or to remain in Lima and defend it. He had placed the town in a posture of defence, which argued this last to have been his original purpose. But he felt he could no longer rely on his troops, and he decided on a third course, most unexpected. This was to abandon the capital, and withdraw to Truxillo, about eighty leagues distant. The women would embark on board the squadron, and, with the effects of the citizens, be transported by water. The troops, with the rest of the inhabitants, would march by land, laying waste the country as they pro- ceeded. Gonzalo Pizarro, when he arrived at Lima, would find it without supplies for his army, and, CH, VIII.] RASH CONDUCT OF THE VICEROY. 281 thus straitened, he would not care to take a long inarch across a desert in search of his enemy.16 What the viceroy proposed to effect by this move- ment is not clear, unless it were to gain time ; and yet the more time he had gained, thus far, the worse it had proved for him. But he was destined to encounter a decided opposition from the judges. They contended that he had no warrant for such an act, and that the Audience could not lawfully hold its sessions out of the capital. Blasco Nuriez per- sisted in his determination, menacing that body with force, if necessary. The judges appealed to the citi- zens to support them in resisting such an arbitrary measure. They mustered a force for their own pro- tection, and that same day passed a decree that the viceroy should be arrested* Late at night, Blasco Nunez was informed of the hostile preparations of the judges. He instantly summoned his followers, to the number of more than two hundred, put on his armour, and prepared to march out at the head of his troops against the Au- dience. This was the true course ; for in a crisis like that in which he was placed, requiring prompt- ness and decision, the presence of the leader is es- sential to insure success. But, unluckily, he yield- ed to the remonstrances of his brother and other friends, who dissuaded him from rashly exposing his life in such a venture. What Blasco Nunez neglected to do was done by 16 Ibid., lib. 5, cap. 12. — Fernandez, Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 18. VOL. II. 86 282 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. the judges. They sallied forth at the head of their followers, whose number, though small at first, they felt confident would be swelled by volunteers as they advanced. Rushing forward, they cried out, — " Liberty ! Liberty ! Long live the king and the Audience ! " It was early dawn, and the inhabi- tants, startled from their slumbers, ran to the win- dows and. balconies, and, learning the object of the movement, some snatched up their arms and joined in it, while the women, waving their scarfs and kerchiefs, cheered on the assault. When the mob arrived before the viceroy's palace, they halted for a moment, uncertain what to do. Orders were given to fire on them from the win- dows, and a volley passed over their heads. No one was injured ; and the greater part of the viceroy's men, with most of the officers, — including some of those who had been so anxious for his personal safety, — now openly joined the populace. The palace was then entered, and abandoned to pillage. Blasco Nunez, deserted by all but a few faithful adherents, made no resistance. He surrendered to the assailants, was led before the judges, and by them was placed in strict confinement. The citi- zens, delighted with the result, provided a collation for the soldiers ; and the affair ended without the loss of a single life. Never was there so bloodless a revolution.17 17 Relacion de los Sucesos del MS. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Peru, MS. — Relacion Anonima, Conq., MS. — Fernandez, Hist. CH. VIII.] SEIZED AND DEPOSED BY THE AUDIENCE. 283 The first business of the judges was to dispose of the prisoner. He was sent, under a strong guard, to a neighbouring island, till some measures could be taken respecting him. He was declared to be deposed from his office ; a provisional government was established, consisting of their own body, with Cepeda at its head, as president ; and its first act was to pronounce the detested ordinances sus- pended, till instructions could be received from Court. It was also decided to send Blasco Nunez back to Spain with one of their own body, who should explain to the emperor the nature of the late disturbances, and vindicate the measures of the Au- dience. This was soon put in execution. The Licentiate Alvarez was the person selected to bear the viceroy company ; and the unfortunate com- mander, after passing several days on the desolate island, with scarcely any food, and exposed to all the inclemencies of the weather, took his departure for Panama.18 . 3f A more formidable adversary yet remained in del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 19. el bien desta tierra." Carta, MS., — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, ubi supra. cap. 11. — Carta de Gonzalo Pi- w Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a zarro a Valdivia, MS. Valdivia, MS. — Relation de los Gonzalo Pizarro devoutly draws Sucesos del Peru, MS. a conclusion from this, that the rev- The story of the seizure of the olution was clearly brought about viceroy is well told by the writer by the hand of God for the good of the last MS., who seems here, of the land. " E hizose sin que at least, not unduly biased in favor murieseunhombre, ni fuese herido, of Blasco Nufiez, though a par- como obra que Dios la guiava para tisan. 284 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS [BooK IV. Gonzalo Pizarro, who had now advanced to Xauxa, about ninety miles from Lima. Here he halted, while numbers of the citizens prepared to join his banner, choosing rather to take service under him than to remain under the self-constituted authority of the Audience. The juo'ges^ meanwhile, who had tasted the sweets of office too short a time to be content to resign them, after considerable delay, sent an embassy to the Procurator. They announced to him the revolution that had taken place, and the suspension of the ordinances. The great object of his mission had been thus accomplished ; and, as a new government was now organized, they called on him to show his obedience to it, by disbanding his forces, and withdrawing to the unmolested enjoy- ment of his estates. It was a bold demand, — though couched in the most courteous and compli- mentary phrase,-; — to make of one in Pizarro's po- sition. It was attempting to scare away the eagle just ready to stoop on his prey. If the chief had faltered, however, he would have been reassured by his lion-hearted lieutenant. " Never show faint heart," exclaimed the latter, " when you are so near the goal. Success has followed every step of your path. You have now only to stretch forth your hand, and seize the government. Every thing else will follow." — The envoy who brought the message from the judges was sent back with the answer, that " the people had called Gonzalo Pizarro to the government of the country, and, if the Audience did CH. VIII.] SEIZED AND DEPOSED BY THE AUDIENCE. 285 not at once invest him with it, the city should be delivered up to pillage." I9 The bewildered magistrates were thrown into dismay by this decisive answer. Yet loth to resign, they took counsel in their perplexity of Vaca de Castro, still detained on board of one of the vessels. But that commander had received too little favor at the hands of his successors to think it necessary to peril his life on their account by thwarting the plans of Pizarro. He maintained a discreet silence, therefore, and left the matter to the wisdom of the Audience. Meanwhile, Carbajal was sent into the city to quicken their deliberations. He came at night, attended only by a small party of soldiers, intimat- ing his contempt of the power of the judges. His first act was to seize a number of cavaliers, whom he dragged from their beds, and placed under ar- rest. They were men of Cuzco, the same already noticed as having left Pizarro's ranks soon after his departure from that capital. While the Audience still hesitated as to the course they should pursue, Carbajal caused three of his prisoners, persons of consideration and property, to be placed on the backs of mules, and escorted out of town to the suburbs, where, with brief space allowed for con- 19 Zarate, Conq. del Pern, lib. royal comptroller, was the en* 5, cap. 13. voy ; not much, as it appears, to It required some courage to carry his own satisfaction. He escaped, the message of the Audience to however, unharmed, and has made Gonzalo and his desperate follow- a full report of the affair in his ers. The historian Zarate, the chronicle. 286 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. fession, he hung them all on the branches of a tree. He superintended the execution himself, and taunt- ingly complimented one of his victims, by telling him, that, " in consideration of his higher rank, he should have the privilege of selecting the bough on which to be hanged!"20 The ferocious officer would have proceeded still further in his executions, it is said, had it not been for orders received from his leader. But enough was done to quicken the perceptions of the Audience as to their course, for they felt their own lives suspended by a thread in such unscrupulous hands. Without further delay, therefore, they sent to invite Gonzalo Pizarro to enter the city, declaring that the security of the country and the general good required the govern- ment to be placed in his hands.21 That chief had now advanced within half a 20 " Le queria dar su muerte justicia hasta que S. M. proveyese con una preeminencia senalada, lo que mas a su real servicio con- que escogiese en qual de las Ramas venia. Los Oydores visto que asi de aquel Arbol queria que le col- convenia al servicio de Dios i al gasen." Zarate, Conq. del Peru, de S. M. i al bien destos reynos," lib. 5, cap. 13. — See also Rela- &c. (Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a cion Anonima, MS. — Fernandez, Valdivia, MS.) But Gonzalo's Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 25. 21 According to Gonzalo Pizarro, the Audience gave this invitation grain of allowance. His letter, in obedience to the demands of the which is addressed to Valdivia, the representatives of the cities. — celebrated conqueror of Chili, con- " Y a esta sazon llegue yo a Lima, tains a full account of the rise and i todos los procuradores de las progress of his rebellion. It is cibdades destos reynos suplicaron the best vindication, therefore, to al Audiencia me hiciesen Gover- be found of himself, and, as a nador para resistir los robos e fuer- counterpoise to the narratives of zas que Blasco Nufiez andava fa- his enemies, is of inestimable value ciendo, i para tener la tierra en to the historian. account of himself must be re- ceived with more than the usual CH. VIII.] GONZALO PROCLAIMED GOVERNOR OF PERU. 287 league of the capital, which soon after, on the twenty-eighth of October, 1544, he entered in bat- tle-array. His whole force was little short of twelve hundred Spaniards, besides several thousand Ind- ians, who dragged his heavy guns in the advance.22 Then came the files of spearmen and arquebusiers, making a formidable corps of infantry for a colonial army ; and lastly, the cavalry, at the head of which rode Pizarro himself, on a powerful charger, gayly caparisoned. The rider was in complete mail, over W7hich floated a richly embroidered surcoat, and his head was protected by a crimson cap, highly orna- mented,— his showy livery setting off his handsome, soldierlike person to advantage.23 Before him was borne the royal standard of Castile ; for every one, royalist or rebel, was careful to fight under that sign. This emblem of loyalty was supported on the right by a banner, emblazoned with the arms of Cuzco, and by another oh the left, displaying the armorial bearings granted by the Crown to the Pizarros. As the martial pageant swept through ,the -streets of Lima, the air was rent with acclamations from the populace, and from the spectators in the bal- conies. The cannon sounded at intervals, and the bells of the city — those that the viceroy had spared 22 He employed twelve thousand ^ " Y el armado y con una capa Indians on this service, says the de grana cubierta con muchas guar- writer of the Relation Anonima, niciones de oro e con sayo de bro- MS. But this author, although cado sobre las armas." Relacion living in the colonies at the time, de los Sucesos del Peru, MS. — talks too much at random to gain Also Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. our implicit confidence. 5, cap. 13. 288 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boox IV. — rang out a joyous peal, as if in honor of a vic- tory ! The oaths of office were duly administered by the judges of the Royal Audience, and Gonzalo Pizarro was proclaimed Governor and Captain- General of Peru, till his Majesty's pleasure could be known in respect to the government. The new ruler then took up his quarters in the palace of his brother, — where the stains of that brother's blood were not yet effaced. Fetes, bull-fights, and tournaments graced the ceremony of inauguration, and were pro- longed for several days, while the giddy populace of the capital abandoned themselves to jubilee, as if a new and more auspicious order of things had commenced for Peru ! ** 24 For the preceding pages re- Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, MS. — lating to Gonzalo Pizarro, see Re- Zarate, loc. cit. — Herrera, Hist, lacion Anonima, MS. — Fenian- General, dec. 7, lib. 8, cap. 16-19. dez, Hist, del Peru, Parte 1, lib. — Relacion de los Sucesos del 1, cap. 25. — Pedro Pizarro, De- Peru, MS. — Montesinos, Annales, scub. y Conq., MS. — Carta de MS., ano 1544. CHAPTER IX. MEASURES OF GONZALQ PIZARRO. — ESCAPE OF VACA DE CASTRO.— REAPPEARANCE OF THE VICEROY. — His DISASTROUS RETREAT.— DEFEAT AND DEATH OF THE* VICEROY. — GONZALO PIZARR& LORD OF PERU. 1544—1546. THE first act of Gonzalo Pizarro was to cause those persons to be apprehended who had taken the most active part against him in the late troubles. Several he condemned to death ; but afterwards commuted the sentence, and contented himself with driving them into banishment and confiscating their estates.1 His next concern was to establish his authority on a firm basis. He filled the municipal government of Lima with his own partisans. He sent his lieutenants to take charge of the principal cities. He caused galleys to be built at Arequipa to secure the command of the seas; and brought his forces into the best possible condition, to prepare for future emergencies. 1 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y did not attach himself to Gonzalo's Conq., MS. Party, an * ^' ' 2 Zarate, the' judge, must not secretary of the royal council in be confounded with Zarate, the Spain. historian, who went out to Peru 3 Gomara, Hist, de las Jnd., vith the Court of Audience, as cap. 172.— Garcilasso, Com. Real., contador real, royal comptroller, — Parte 2, lib. 4, cap. 21. having before rilled the office of CH. IX.] ESCAPE OF VACA DE CASTRO. 291 forbearance of one whose advances, on a former oc- casion, he had so unceremoniously repulsed, and convinced, moreover, that his^ own presence could profit nothing in a land where he held no legiti- mate authority, had prevailed on the captain to sail with him to Panama. He then crossed the Isth- mus, and embarked for Spain. The rumors of his coming had already preceded him, and charges were not wanting against him from some of those whom he had offended by his administration. He was accused of having carried measures with a -high hand, regardless of the rights, both of the colonist and of the native \ and, above all, of having embez- zled the public moneys, and' of returning with his coffers richly freighted to Castile. This last was an unpardonable crime. No sooner had the governor set foot in his own country than he was arrested, and hurried to the fortress of Are valo ; and, though he was afterwards removed to better quarters, where he was treated with the indulgence due to his rank, he was still kept a prisoner of state for twelve years, when the tardy tribunals of Castile pronounced a judgment in his favor. He was acquitted of every charge that had been brought against him, and, so far from peculation, was proved to have returned home no richer than he went. He was released from con- finement, reinstated in his honors and dignities, took his seat anew in the royal council, and Vaca de Castro enjoyed, during the remainder of his days, the consideration to which he was entitled by his 292 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boon IV. deserts,4 The best eulogium on the wisdom of his administration was afforded by the troubles brought oil the colonies by that of his successor. The na- tion became gradually sensible of the value of his services; though the manner in which, they were . requited by the government must be allowed to form 1i cold commentary on the gratitude of princes. Gonzalo Pizarro was doomed to experience a still greater disappointment than that caused by the es- cape of Vaca de Castro, in the return of Blasco Nunez. The vessel which bore him from the coun- try bad hardly left the shore, when Alvarez, the judge, whether from remorse at the part which he had taken, or apprehensive of the consequences of carrying back the viceroy to Spain, presented him- self before that dignitary, and announced that he was no longer a prisoner. At the * same time he excused himself for the part he had taken, by his desire to save the life of Blasco Nunez, and extri- cate him from his perilous situation. He now placed the vessel at his disposal, and assured him it should take him wherever he chose. The viceroy, whatever faith he may have placed in the judge's explanation, eagerly availed himself of his offer. His proud spirit revolted at the idea •of returning b&me in disgrace^ foiled, as he had been, ift every object of his mission. He deter- mined to try his fortune again in the land, and his 4 Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, Peru, MS. — Montesinos, Annales, cap. 15. — Relacion Anonima, MS. MS., ano 1545. — Fernandez, Hist. — Relacion. de los Sucesos del del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 28 CH. IX.] REAPPEARANCE OF THE VICEROY. 293 only doubt was, on what point to attempt to rally his partisans around him. At Panama he might remain in safety, while he invoked assistance from Nicaragua, and other colonies at the north. But this would be to abandon his government at once ; and such a confession of weakness would have a bad effect on his followers in Peru. He determined, therefore, to direct his steps towards Quito, which, while it was within his jurisdiction, was still re- moved far enough from the theatre of the late troubles to give him time to rally, and make head against his enemies. In pursuance of this purpose, the viceroy and his suite disembarked at Tumbez, about the middle of October, 1544. On landing, he issued a manifesto setting forth the violent proceedings of Gonzalo Pizarro and^ his followers, whom he denounced as traitors, to their prince, and he called on all true sub- jects in the colony to support him in, maintaining the royal authority. The call was not unheeded ; and volunteers came in, though tardily, from San Miguel, Puerto Viejo, and other places on the coast, cheering the heart of the viceroy with the convic- tion that the sentiment of loyalty was not yet ex- tinct in the bosoms of the Spaniards. But, while thus occupied, he received tidings of the arrival of one of Pizarro's captains on the coast, with a force superior to his own. Their number was exaggerated ; but Blasco Nunez, without wait- ing to ascertain the truth, abandoned his position at Tumbez, and, with as much expedition as he could %** 294 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boon IV. make across a wild and mountainous country half- buried in snow, he marched to Quito. But this capital, situated at the northern extremity of his province, was not a favorable point for the rendez- vous of his followers; and, ^ after prolonging his stay till he had received assurance from Benalcazar, the loyal commander at Popayan, that he would support him with all his strength in the coming conflict, he made a rapid countermarch to the coast, and took up his position at the town of San Miguel. This was a spot well suited to his purposes, as lying on the great high road along the shores of the Pa- cific, besides being the chief mart for commercial intercourse with Panama and the north. Here the viceroy erected his standard, and in a few weeks found himself at the head of a force amounting to nearly five hundred in all, horse and foot, ill provided with arms and ammunition, but apparently zealous in the cause. Finding himself in sufficient 'strength to commence active operations, he now sallied forth against several of Pizarro's cap- tains in the neighbourhood, over whom he obtained some decided advantages, which renewed his confi- dence, and flattered him with the hopes of reestab- lishing his ascendency, in the country.5 5 Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 23. — Relacion Valdivia, MS. — Zarate, Conq. del de los Sucesos del Peru, MS. Peru, lib. 5, cap. 14, 15. — Her- The author of the document last rera, Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 8, cited notices the strong feeling for cap. 19, 20. — Relacion Anonima, the Crown' existing in several of MS. — Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, the cities; and mentions also the CH. IX.] HIS DISASTROUS RETREAT. 295 During this time, Gonzalo Pizarro was not idle. He had watched with anxiety the viceroy's move- ments ; and was now convinced that it was time to act, and that, if he would not be unseated himself, he must dislodge his formidable rival. He accord- ingly placed a strong garrison under a faithful officer in Lima, and, after sending forward a force of some six hundred men by land to Truxillo, he embarked for the same port himself* on the 4th of March, 1545, the very day on which the viceroy had marched from Quito. At Truxillo, Pizarro put himself at the head of his little army, and moved without loss of time against San Miguel. His rival, eager to bring their quarrel to aa issue, would fain have marched out to give him battle; but his soldiers, mostly young and in- experienced levies, hastily brought together, were intimidated -by the name of Pizarro. They loudly insisted on being led into the upper country, where they would be reinforced by Benalcazar ; and their unfortunate commander, like the rider of some un- manageable steed, to whose -humors he is obliged to submit, was hurried away in a direction contrary to his wishes. It was the fate of Blasco Nunez to have his purposes baffled alike by his friends and his enemies. On arriving before San Miguel, Gonzalo Pizarro found, to his great mortification, that his antagonist had left it. Without entering the town, he quick- rumor of a meditated assault on of Blasco Nuiiez ; and the facility Cuzco by the Indians. — The writer with which exiles credit reports in belonged to the discomfited party their own favor is proverbial. 296 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boo* IV. ened his pace, and, after traversing a valley of some extent, reached the skirts of a mountain chain, into which Blasco Nunez had Centered but a few hours before. It was late in the evening ; but Pizarro, knowing the importance of despatch, sent forward Carbajal with a party of light troops to overtake the fugitives. That captain succeeded in coming up with their lonely bivouac among the mountains at midnight, when the weary troops were buried in slumber. Startled from their repose by the blast of the trumpet, which, strange to say, their enemy had incautiously sounded,6 the viceroy and his men sprang to their feet, mounted their horses, grasped their arquebuses, and poured such a volley into the ranks of their assailants, that Carbajal, disconcerted by his reception, found it prudent, with his inferior force, tor retreat. The viceroy followed, till, fearing an ambuscade in the darkness of the night, he with- drew, and allowed his adversary to rejoin the main body of the army under Pizarro. This conduct of Carbajal, by which he allowed the game to slip -through his hands, from mere carelessness, is inexplicable. It forms a singular ex- ception to the habitual caution and vigilance dis- played in his military career, Had it been the act of any other captain, it would have cost him his head. But Pizarro, although greatly incensed, set 6 " Mas Francisco Caruajal q los arma : y sentido por el Virey se yua siguiendo, llego quatro horas leuanto luego el primero." Fer- de la noche a dode estauan : y con nandez, Hist, del Peru, Parte 1, vna Trompeta que lleuaua les toco lib. 1, cap. 40. CH. IX.] HIS DISASTROUS RETREAT. 297 too high a value on the services and well-tried at- tachment of his lieutenant, to quarrel .with him. Still it was considered of the last importance to overtake the enemy, before he had advanced much farther to the north, where the difficulties of the ground would greatly embarrass the pursuit. Car- bajal, anxious to retrieve his error, was accordingly again placed at the head of a corps of light troops, with instructions to harass the enemy's march, cut off his stores, and keep him in check, if possible, till the arrival of Pizarro.7 But the viceroy had profited by the recent delay to gain considerably on his pursuers. His road led across the valley of Caxas, a broad, uncultivated dis- trict, affording little sustenance for man or beast. Day after day, his troops held on their march through this dreary region, intersected with barran- cas and rocky ravines that added incredibly to their toil. Their principal food was the parched corn, which usually formed the nourishment of the travel- ling Indians, though held of much less account, by the Spaniards ; and this meagre fare was reinforced by such herbs as they found on the way-side* which, for want of better utensils, the soldiers were fain to boil in their helmets.8 Carbajal, mean- while, pressed on them so close, that their baggage, 7 Ibid., ubi supra. — Herrera, algunas Jervas, que cocian en las Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 9, cap. Celadas, quando paraban a dar 22. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., lib. aliento a los Caballos." Herrera, 4, cap. 26. Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 9, cap. 8 " Caminando, pues, comiendo 24. VOL. II. 38 298 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boon IV. ammunition, and sometimes their mules, fell into his hands. The indefatigable warrior was always on their track, by day and by night, allowing them scarcely any repose. They spread no tent, and lay down in their arms, with their steeds standing saddled beside them ; and hardly had the weary soldier closed his eyes, when he was startled by the cry that the enemy was upon him.9 At length, the harassed followers of Blasco Nu- Rez reached the depoblado, or desert of Paltos, which stretches towards the north for many a dreary league. The ground, intersected by numer- ous streams, has the character of a great quagmire, and men and horses floundered about in the stag- nant waters, or with difficulty .worked their way over the marsh, or opened a passage through the tangled underwood that shot up in rank luxuriance from the surface. The wayworn horses^ without food, except such as they could pick up in the wilderness, were often spent with travel, and, be- coming unserviceable, were left to die on the road, with their hamstrings cut, that they might be of no use to -the enemy.; though more frequently they were despatched to afford a miserable banquet to their masters.10 Many of the men now fainted by 9 " I sin que en todo el camino Caballos del Cabestro, sin esperar los vnos, ni los otros, quitasen las a poner Toldos, ni a aderegar las Sillas a los Caballos, aunque en este otras formas, que se suelen tener caso estaba mas alerta la Gente del para atar los Caballos de Noche." Visorei, porque si algun pequeno Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, rato de la Noche reposaban, era cap. 29. vestidos, i teniendo siempre los 10 " I en cansandose el Caballo, CH. IX.] HIS DISASTROUS RETREAT. 299 the way from mere exhaustion, or loitered in the woods, unable to keep up with the march. And woe to the straggler who fell into the hands of Carbajal, at least if he had once belonged to the party of Pizarro. The mere suspicion of treason sealed his doom with the unrelenting soldier.11 The sufferings of Pizarro and his troop were scarcely less than those of the viceroy ; though they were somewhat mitigated by the natives of the country, who, with ready instinct, discerned which party was the strongest, and, of course, the most to be feared. But, with every alleviation, the chieftain's sufferings were terrible. It was repeat- ing the dismal scenes of the expedition to the Amazon. The soldiers of the Conquest must be admitted to have purchased their triumphs dearly. Yet the viceroy had one source of disquietude, greater, perhaps, than any arising from physical suffering. This was the distrust of his own fol- lowers. There were several of the principal cava- liers in his suite whom he suspected of being in correspondence with the enemy, and even of de- signing to betray him into their hands. He was so well convinced of this, that he caused two of these officers to be put to death on the march ; and their dead bodies, as they lay by the roadside, meeting le desjarretaba, i le dexaba, porque been hung up by his lieutenant, sus contraries no se aprovechasen v?ho pleasantly quoted the old Span- de £1." Ibid., loc. cit. ish proverb, — ' The fewer of our 11 " Had it not been for Gonzalo enemies the better.' " De los ene- Pizarro's interference," says Fer- migos, los menos. Hist, del Peru, nandez, " many more would have Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 40. 300 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boo* IV. the eye of the soldier, told him that there were others to be feared in these frightful solitudes be- sides the enemy in his rear.12 Another cavalier, who held the chief command under the viceroy, was executed, after a more for- mal investigation of his case, at the first place where the army halted. At this distance of time, it is impossible to determine how far the suspicions of Blasco' Nunez were founded on truth. The judg- ments of contemporaries are at variance.13 In times of political- ferment, the opinion of the writer is generally determined by the complexion of his party To judge from the character of Blasco Nuflez, jealous and irritable, we might suppose him to have acted without sufficient cause. But this considera- tion is counterbalanced by that of the facility with which his followers swerved from their allegiance to their commander, who seems to have had so light a hold on their affections;, that they were shaken off by the least reverse of fortune. Whether his sus- r-.'V* • # " Los afligidos Soldados, que death, had served him to that time por el cansancio de los Caballos with their lives and fortunes, dis- iban a pie con terrible .angustia, por misses the affair with the temperate !a persecucion de los Enemigos, reflection, that men formed difFer- que iban cerca, i por la fatiga de ent judgments on it. " Sobre estas la hambre, quando vieron los £uer- muertes uuo en el Peril varies y pos de los dos Capitanes muertos contraries juyzios y opiniones, de en aquel camino quedaron atoni- culpa y de su descargo." (Hist, tos." Herrera, Hist. General, del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 41.) dec. 7, lib. 9, cap. 25. Gomara says, more unequivocally, 13 Fernandez, who held a loyal " All condemned it." (Hist, de pen, and one sufficiently friendly to las Ind., cap. 167.) The weight the viceroy, after stating that the of opinion seems to have been officers, whom the latter put to against the viceroy. CH. IX.] HIS DISASTROUS RETREAT. 301 picions were well or ill founded, the effect was the same on the mind of the viceroy. With an enemy in his rear whom he dared not fight, and followers whom he dared not trust, the cup of his calamities was nearly full. At length, he issued forth on firm ground, and, passing through ^omebamba, Blasco Nunez reen- tered his northern capital of Quito. But his recep- tion was not so cordial as that which he had before experienced. He now came as a fugitive, with a formidable enemy in pursuit ; and he was soon made to feel that the surest Way to receive sup- port is not to need it. Shaking from his feet the dust of the disloyal city, whose superstitious people were alive to many an omen that boded his approaching ruin,14 the unfortunate commander held on his way towards Pastos, in the jurisdiction of Benalcazar. .Pizarro and his forces entered Quito not long after, disap- pointed, that, with all his diligence, the enemy still eluded his pursuit. He halted only to breathe his men, and, declaring that " he would follow up the viceroy to the North Sea but he would overtake him," 15 he resumed his march. At Pastos, he nearly accomplished his object. His advance-guard 14 Some of these omens recorded Perros andaban por las Calles, by the historian — as the howling dando grandes i temerosos ahulli- of dogs — were certainly no mira- dos, i los Hombres andaban asom- cles. " En. esta lamentable, i an- brados, i fuera de si." Herrera, gustiosa partida, muchos afirma- Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 10. ron, haver visto por el Aire mu- cap. 4. chos Cometas, i que quadrillas de 15 Ibid ., ubi supra. 302 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV. came up with Blasco Nunez .as the latter was halt- ing on the opposite bank of a rivulet. Pizarro's men, fainting from toil and heat, staggered feebly to the water-side, to slake their; burning thirst, and it would have been easy for the viceroy's troops, re- freshed by repose, and superior in number to their foes, to have routed them. I^ut Blasco Nunez could , not bring his soldiers to the charge. They had fled so. long before their enemy, that the mere sight of him filled tfheir hearts with panic, and they would have ho more thought of turning against him than the hare would turn against the hound that pursues her. Their safety, they felt, was to fly, not to fight, and they profited by the exhaustion of their pursu- ers only to quicken their retreat. Gonzalo Pizarro continued the chase some leagues beyond Pastos ; when, finding himself carried far- ther tnan he desired into the territories of Benal- cazar, and not caring to encounter this formidable captain at disadvantage, he came to a halt, and, notwithstanding his ' magnificent vaunt about the North Sea, ordered a retreat, and made a rapid countermarch on Quito. Here he found occupation in repairing the wasted spirits of his troops, and in strengthening himself with fresh reinforcements, ^ which1 much increased his numbers; though these were again diminished by a body that he detached under Carbajal to suppress an insurrection, which he now learned had broken out in the south. It was headed by Diego Centeno, one of his own offi- cers, whom he had established in La Plata, the in- CH. IX.] HIS DISASTROUS RETREAT. 303 habitants of which place .had joined in the revolt and raised the standard for the Crown. With the rest of his forces, Pizarro resolved to/remain at Quito, waiting the hour when the viceroy would reenter his dominions ; as the tiger crouches by some spring in the wilderness, patiently waiting the return of his victims. Meanwhile Blasco Nunez had pushed forward his retreat to Popayan, the capital of Benalcazar's prov- ince. Here he was kindly received by the people ; and his soldiers, reduced by desertion and disease to one fifth of their original number, rested from the unparalleled fatigues of a march which had con- tinued for more than .two hundred leagues.16 It was no't long before he was joined by Cabrera, Benalcazar's lieutenant, with a stout reinforcement, and, soon after, by that chieftain himself. His whole force now amounted to near, four hundred men, most of them in good condition, and well trained in the school of American warfare. His own men were sorely deficient both in arms and ammunition ; and he set about repairing the want by building furnaces for manufacturing arquebuses and 16 This retreat of Blasco Nunez Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, cap; 19, may undoubtedly compare, if not 29. — Carta de GTonzalo Pizarro a in duration, at least in sbarpness Valdivia, MS. — Herrera, Hist, of suffering-, with any expedition -.General, dec. 7, lib. 9, cap. 20-26. in the New World, — save, "in- — Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, Parte deed, that of Gonzalo Pizarro him- 1, lib. 1, cap. 40, et seq. — Rela- self to the Amazon. The particu- _cion de los Sucesos del Peru, MS. lars of it may be found, with more — Relation Anonima, MS. — Mon- or less amplification, in- Zarate, tesinos, Annales, MS., ano 1545. irlsx-T m V''v x< '* f • ' ' . ' 304 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boox IV. pikes.17- — One familiar with the history of these times is surprised to see the readiness with which the Spanish adventurers turned then: hands to va- rious trades and handicrafts usually requiring a long apprenticeship. They displayed the dexterity so necessary to settlers in a 'new country, where every man mast become in some degree his own artisan. But this state of things, however favorable to *he ingenuity of the artist, is not very propitious to the advancement of thtf art; and there can be little doubt that the weapons thus made by the sol- diers of Blasco Nunez were of the most rude and imperfect construction. As week after week rolled away, Gonzalo Pizar- ro, though fortified with the patience of a Spanish soldier, felt uneasy at the protracted stay of Blasco Nunez in the north, and he resorted to stratagem to decoy him from his retreat. He marched out of Quito with the greater part of his forces, pretending that he was going to support his lieutenant in the south, whale he left a garrison in the city under the command of Puelles, the same officer who had for- merly deserted from the viceroy. These tidings he took care should be conveyed to the enemy's camp. The artifice succeeded as he wished. Blasco Nunez and his followers, confident in their superiority over Puelles, did not hesitate for a moment to profit by 17 " Proveio, que se tragese alii tiempo se forjaron en ellas doeien- todo el hierro que se pudo haver .tos Arcabuees, con todos sus apare- en la Provincia, i busco Maestros, jos." Zarate, Conq. del Peru, i hif^ adere Dios es la causa, de Dios es la mera laca que se rompa en los ene- causa." Zarate, Conq. del Peru, migos, sea la mia (y assi lo cum- lib. 5, cap. 35. plio)." Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, 22 " Un quarto de legua de la Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 53. ciudad." Carta de Gonzalo Pi- 21 " Que de Dios es la causa, de zarro a Valdivia, MS. CH. IX.] DEFEAT AND DEATH OF THE VICEROY. 309 The viceroy's troops, now coming to a halt, were formed in order of battle. A small body of arquebu- siers was stationed in the advance to begin the fight. The remainder of that corps was distributed among the spearmen, who occupied the centre, protected on the flanks by the horse drawn up in two nearly equal squadrons. The cavalry amounted to about one hundred and forty, being little inferior to that on the other side, though the whole number of the viceroy's forces, being less than four hundred, did not much exceed the half of his rival's. On the right, and in front of the royal banner, Blasco Nu- nez, supported by thirteen chosen cavaliers, took his station, prepared to head the attack. Pizarro had formed his troops in a corresponding manner with that of his adversary. They mustered about seven hundred in all, well appointed, in good condition, and officered by the best knights in Pe- ru.23 As, notwithstanding his superiority of num- bers, Pizarro did not seem inclined to abandon his advantageous position, Blasco Nunez gave or- ders to advance. The action commenced with the arquebusiers, and in a few moments the dense clouds of smoke, rolling over the field, obscured every object ; for it was late in the day when 23 The amount of the numbers writers. Pizarro estimates his ad- on both sides is variously given , as versary 's force at four hundred and usual, making, however, more than fifty men, and his own at only six the usual difference in the relative hundred ; an estimate, it may be proportions, since the sum total is remarked, that does not make that so small. I have conformed to the given in the text any less cred- statements of the best-instructed ible. 310 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BooK IV the action began, and the light was rapidly fad- ing. The infantry, now levelling their pikes, advanced under, cover of the smoke, and were soon hotly en- gaged with the opposite files of spearmen. Then came the charge of the cavalry, which — notwith- standing they were thrown into some disorder by the fire of Pizarro's arquebusiers, far superior in number to their own — was conducted with such spirit that the enemy's horse were compelled to reel and fall back before it. But it was only to recoil with greater violence, as, like an overwhelming wave, Pizarro's troopers rushed on their foes, driving them along the slope, and bearing down man and horse in indiscriminate ruin. Yet these, in turn, at length rallied, cheered on by the cries and desperate efforts of their officers. The lances were shivered, and they fought hand to hand with swords and battle- axes mingled together in wild confusion. But the struggle was of no long duration ; for, though' the numbers were nearly equal, the viceroy's cavalry, jaded by the severe march of the previous night,24 were no match for their antagonists. The ground was strewn with the wreck of their bodies; and horses and riders, the dead and the dying, lay heaped on one another. Cabrera, the brave lieutenant of Benalcazar, was slain,, and that commander was thrown under his horse's feet, covered with wounds, and left for dead on the field. Alvarez, the judge, 24 Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, cap. 35. CH. IX.] DEFEAT AND DEATH OF THE VICEROY. 31 1 was mortally wounded. Both he and his colleague Cepeda were in the action, though ranged on oppo- site sides, fighting as if they had been bred to arms, not to the peaceful profession of the law. Yet Blasco Nunez and his companions maintained a brave struggle on the right of the field. The viceroy had kept his word by being the first to break his lance against the enemy, and by a well- directed blow had borne a cavalier, named Alobso de Montalvo, clean out of his saddle. But he- was at length overwhelmed by numbers, and, as his com- panions, one after another, fell by his side, he was left nearly unprotected. He was already wounded, when a blow on the head from the battle-axe of a soldier struck him from his horse, and he fell stun- ned on the ground. Had his person been known, he might have been taken alive, but he wore a sobre-vest of Indian cotton over his armour, which concealed the military order of St. James, and the other badges of his rank.25 His person, however, was soon recognized by one of Pizarro's followers, who, not improbably, 25 He wore this dress, says Gar- — It must be confessed that this is cilasso de la Vega, that he might the general motive for a disguise, fare no better than a common sol- " I Blasco Nunez puso mucha dier, but take his chance with the diligencia por poder huirse si pu- rest. (Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. diera, porque venia vestido con una 4, cap. 34.) Pizarro gives him camiseta de Yndios por no ser eo- credit for no auch magnanimous in- nocitfo, i no quiso Dios porque tent. According to him, the vice- pagase quantos males por su causa roy assumed this disguise, that, his se havian hecho." Carta de Gon- rank being unknown, "he might zalo Pizarro a Valdivia, MS. have the better chance for escape. 312 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boos IV. had once followed the viceroy's banner. The sol- dier immediately pointed him out to the Licentiate Carbajal. This person was the brother of the cav- alier whom, as the reader may remember, Blasco Nunez had so rashly put to death in his palace at Lima. The licentiate had afterwards taken ser- vice under Pizarro, and, writh several of his kindred, was pledged to take vengeance on the viceroy. Instantly riding up, he taunted the fallen command- er with the murder of his brother, and was in the act of dismounting to despatch him with his own hand, when Puelles remonstrating on this, as an act of degradation, commanded one of his attendants, a black slave, to cut off the viceroy's head. This the fellow executed with a single stroke of his sabre, while the wretched man, perhaps then dying of his wounds, uttered no word, but with eyes imploringly turned up towards heaven, received the fatal blow.26 The head was then borne aloft on a pike, and some were brutal enough to pluck out the grey hairs from the beard and set them in their caps, as grisly trophies of their victory.27 The fate of the day was now decided. Yet still the 26 Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, rera, Hist. General, dec. 8, lib. Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 54. — Zarate, 1, cap. 3. Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, cap. 35. 27 « Aviendo algunos capitanes " Mand6 a un Negro que traia, y personas arrancado y pelado al- que le cortase la Cabega, i en todo gunas de sus blancas y leales bar- esto no se conocio flaque^a en el uas, para traer por empresa, y Jua Visorrei, ni hablo palabra, ni 11150 de la Torre las traxo despues publi- mas movimiento, que al§ar los ojos camente en la gorra por la ciudad al Cielo, dando mtfestras de mucha de los Reyes." Fernandez, Hist. Christiandad, i constancia." Her- del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 54. CH. IX.] DEFEAT AND DEATH OF THE VICEROY. 313 infantry made a brave stand, keeping Pizarro's horse at bay with their bristling array of pikes. But their numbers were thinned by the arque- busiers ; and, thrown into disorder, they could no longer resist the onset of the horse, who broke into their column, and soon scattered and drove them off the ground* The pursuit was neither long nor bloody; for darkness came on, and Pi- zarro bade his trumpets sound, to call his men together under their banners. Though the action lasted but a short time, nearly one third of the viceroy's troops had perished. The loss of their opponents was inconsiderable.23 Sev- eral of the vanquished cavaliers took refuge in the churches of Quito. But they were dragged from the sanctuary, and some — probably those who had once espoused the cause of Pizarro — were led to execution, and others banished to Chili. The great- er part were pardoned by the conqueror. Benal- cazar, who recovered from his wrounds, was per- mitted to return to his government, on condition o/ no more bearing arms against Pizarro. His troops were invited to take service under the banner of the victor, who, however, never treated them with the confidence shown to his ancient partisans. He was greatly displeased at the indignities offered to 28 The estimates of killed and own at only seven killed and but a wounded in this action are as dis- few wounded. But how rarely is cordant as usual. Some carry the it that a faithful bulletin is issued viceroy's loss to two hundred, by the parties engaged in the ac- while Gonzalo Pizarro rates his tion ! VOL. II. 40 314 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. the viceroy; whose mangled remains he caused to be buried with the honors due to his rank in the cathedral of Quito. Gonzalo Pizarro, attired in black, walked as chief mourner in the procession. — It was usual with the Pizarros, as we have seen, to pay these obituary honors to their victims.29 Such was the sad end of Blasco Nunez Vela, first viceroy of Peru. It was less than two years since he had set foot in the country, a period of unmitigated disaster and disgrace. His misfortunes may be im- puted partly to circumstances, and partly to his own character. The minister of an odious and oppres- sive law, he was intrusted with no discretionary power in the execution of it.30 Yet every man may, to a certain extent, claim the right to such a power ; 29 For the accounts of the battle se viniese a meter en las manos of Anaquito, rather summarily de- para quitarnos de tantos cuidados, spatched by most writers, see Carta i que pagase quantos males havia de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, MS. fecho en la tierra, la qual quedo — Gomara, Hist, de las Ind., cap. tan asosegada i tan en paz i servicio 170. — Herrera, Hist. General, de S. M. como lo estuvo en tiempo die. 8, lib. 1, cap. 1-3. — Pedro del Marques mi hermano." Carta Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, MS. Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, cap. 30 Garcilasso's reflections on this 35. — Montesinos, Annales, MS., point are commendably tolerant, ano 1546. — Garcilasso, Com. " Assi acabo este buen cauallero, Real., Parte 2, lib. 4, cap. 33-35. por querer porfiar tanto en la exe- — Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, cucion de lo que ni a su Rey ni a Parte 1, lib. 1, cap; 53, 54. aquel Reyno conuenia: donde se Gonzalo Pizarro seems to regard causaron tantas muertes y danos de the battle as a sort of judicial trial Espanoles, y de Yndios: aunque by combat, in which Heaven, by no tuuo tanta culpa como se le the result, plainly indicated the atribuye, porque lleuo precise man- right. His remarks are edifying, dato de lo que hizo." Com. Real., " Por donde parecera claramenta Parte 2, lib. 4, cap. 34. que Nuestro Senor fue servido este CH. IX.] DEFEAT AND DEATH OF THE VICEROY. 315 since, to execute a commission, which circumstances show must certainly defeat the object for which it was designed, would be absurd. But it requires sagacity to determine the existence of such a con- tingency, and moral courage to assume the respon- sibility of acting on it. Such a crisis is the se- verest test of character. To dare to disobey from a paramount sense of duty, is a paradox that a little soul can hardly comprehend. Unfortunately, Blasco Nunez was a pedantic martinet, a man of narrow views, who could not feel himself authorized under any circumstances to swerve from the letter of the law. Puffed up by his brief authority, moreover, he considered opposition to the ordinances as trea- son to himself; and thus, identifying himself with his commission, he was prompted by personal feel- ings, quite as much as by those of a public and patriotic nature. Neither was the viceroy's character of a kind that tended to mitigate the odium of his measures, and reconcile the people to their execution. It af- forded a strong contrast to that of his rival, Pizarro, whose frank, chivalrous bearing, and generous con- fidence in his followers, made him universally popu- lar, blinding their judgments, and giving to the worse the semblance of the better cause. Blasco Nunez, on the contrary, irritable and suspicious, placed him- self in a false position with all whom he approached ; for a suspicious temper creates an atmosphere of distrust around it that kills every kindly affection. His first step was to alienate the members of the 316 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boon IV. Audience who were sent to act in concert with him. But this was their fault as well as his, since they were as much too lax, as he was too severe, in the interpretation of the law.31 He next alienated and outraged the people whom he was appointed to govern. And, lastly, he disgusted his own friends, and too often turned them into enemies; so that, in his final struggle for power and for existence, he Was obliged to rely on the arm of the stranger. Yet in the catalogue of his qualities we must not pass in silence over his virtues. There are two to the credit of which he is undeniably entitled, — a loyalty, which shone the brighter amidst the general defection around him, and a constancy under mis- fortune, which might challenge the respect even of his enemies. But with the most liberal allow- ance for his merits, it can scarcely be doubted that a person more incompetent to the task assigned him could not have been found in Castile.32 31 Blasco Nunez characterized Vela rests chiefly on the authority the four judges of the Audience in of loyal writers, some of whom a manner more concise than com- wrote after their return to Castile, plimentary, — a boy, a madman, a They would, therefore, more natu- booby, and a dunce! " Decia mu- rally lean to the side of the true chas veces Blasco Nunez, que le representative of the Crown, than havian dado el Emperador, i su to that of the rebel. Indeed, the Consejo de Indias vn Mogo, un only voice raised decidedly in favor Loco, un Necio/ vn Tonto por Oi- of Pizarro is his own, — a very dores, que asi lo havian hecho suspicious authority. Yet, with all como ellos eran. Mo$o era Cepe- the prestiges in his favor, the ad- da, i llamaba Loco a Juan Alvarez, ministration of Blasco Nunez, from i Necio a Tejada, que no sabia universal testimony, was a total Latin." Gomara, Hist, de las failure. And there is little to in- Ind., cap. 171. terest us in the story of the man, 32 The account of Blasco Nunez except his unparalleled misfortunes, CH. IX.] GONZALO PIZARRO LORD OF PERU. 317 The victory of Anaquito was received with gen- eral joy in the neighbouring capital ; all the cities of Peru looked on it as sealing the downfall of the detested ordinances, and the name of Gonzalo Pi- zarro was sounded from one end of the country to the other as that of its deliverer. That chief con- tinued to prolong his stay in Quito during the wet season, dividing his time between the licentious pleasures of the reckless adventurer and the cares of business that now pressed on him as ruler of the state. His administration was stained with fewer acts of violence than might have been expected from the circumstances of his situation. So long as Carbajal, the counsellor in whom he unfortunately placed greatest reliance, was absent, Gonzalo sanc- tioned no execution, it was observed, but accord- ing to the forms of law.33 He rewarded his follow- ers by new grants of land, and detached several on expeditions, to no greater distance, however, than would leave it in his power readily to recall them. He made various provisions for the welfare of the natives, and some, in particular, for instructing them in the Christian faith. He paid attention to the faithful collection of the royal dues, urging on the colonists that they should deport themselves so as to conciliate the good-will of the Crown, and induce and the firmness with which he mas de su Consejo, lo aproba- bore them. sen: i entonces con Proceso en 33 " Nunca Pi^arro, en ausencia forma de Derecho, i confesados de Francisco de Carvajal, su Maes- primero." Gomara, Hist, de las tre de Campo, mato, ni consintio Ind., cap. 172. matar Espanol, sin que todos, los 318 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. a revocation of the ordinances. His administration, in short, was so conducted, that even the austere Gasca, his successor, allowed " it was a good gov- ernment,— for a tyrant."34 At length, in July, 1546, the new governor bade adieu to Quito, and, leaving there a sufficient garri- son under his officer Puelles, began his journey to the south. It was a triumphal progress, and every- where he was received on the road with enthusiasm by the people. At Truxillo, the citizens came out in a body to welcome him, and the clergy chanted an- thems in his honor, extolling him as the " victorious prince," and imploring the Almighty " to lengthen his days, and give him honor." ^ At Lima, it was proposed to clear away some of the buildings, and open a new street for his entrance, which might ever after bear the name of the victor. But the politic chieftain declined this flattering tribute, and modestly preferred to enter the city by the usual way. A procession was formed of the citizens, the soldiers, and the clergy, and Pizarro made his entry into the capital with two of his principal captains on foot, holding the reins of his charger, while the archbishop of Lima, and the bishops of Cuzco, 34 Ibid., ubi supra. — Fernandez praise of Gomara is less suspicious gives a less favorable picture of than the censure of Fernandez. Gonzalo's administration. (Hist. & " Victorioso Principe, hagate del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 54; Dios dichoso, i bienaventurado, el lib. 2, cap. 13.) Fernandez wrote te mantenga, i te conserve." Her- at the instance of the Court ; rera, Hist. General, dec. 8, lib. 2, Gomara, though present at court, cap. 9. wrote to please himself. The CH. IX.] GONZALO PIZARRO LORD OF PERU. Quito, and Bogota, the last of whom had lately come to the city to be consecrated, rode by his side. The streets were strewn with boughs, the walls of the houses hung with showy tapestries, and triumphal arches were thrown over the way in honor of the victor. Every balcony, veranda, and house- top was crowded with spectators, who sent up huz- zas, loud and long, saluting the victorious soldier with the titles of " Liberator, and Protector of the people." The bells rang out their joyous peal, as on his former entrance into the capital ; and amidst strains of enlivening music, and the blithe sounds of jubilee, Gonzalo held on his way to the palace of his brother. Peru was once more placed under the dynasty of the Pizarros.36 Deputies came from different parts of the country, tendering the congratulations of their respective cities ; and every one eagerly urged his own claims to consideration for the services he had rendered in the revolution. Pizarro, at the same time, received the welcome intelligence of the success of his arms in the south. Diego Centeno, as before stated, had there raised the standard of rebellion, or rather, of loyalty to his sovereign. He had made himself master of La Plata, and the spirit of insurrection had spread over the broad province of Charcas. Carbajal, who had been sent against him from 36 For an account of this pa- Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, cap. geant, see Pedro Pizarro, Descub. 5. — Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a y Conq., MS. — Herrera, Hist. Valdivia, MS. General, dec. 8, lib. 2, cap. 9. — 320 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [Boon IV. Quito, after repairing to Lima, had passed at once to Cuzco, and there, strengthening his forces, had descended by rapid marches on the refractory dis- trict. Centeno did not trust himself in the field against this formidable champion. He retreated with his troops into the fastnesses of the sierra. Carbajal pursued, following on his track with the pertinacity of a bloodhound ; over mountain and moor, through forests and dangerous ravines, allow- ing him no respite, by day or by night. Eating, drinking, sleeping in his saddle, the veteran, eighty years of age, saw his own followers tire one after another, while he urged on the chase, like the wild huntsman of Burger, as if endowed with an un- earthly frame, incapable of fatigue ! During this terrible pursuit, which continued for more than two hundred leagues over a savage country, Centeno found himself abandoned by most of his followers. Such of them as fell into CarbajaPs hands were sent to speedy execution ; for that inexorable chief had no mercy on those who had been false to their party.37 At length, Centeno, with a handful of men, arrived on the borders of the Pacific, and there, separating from one another, they provided, each in the best way he could, for their own safety. Their leader found an asylum in a cave in the mountains, where he was secretly fed by an Indian curaca, till 37 Poblando los arboks con sus strongly ; alluding to the manner in cuerpos, " peopling the trees with which the ferocious officer hung their bodies," says Fernandez, up his captives on the branches. CH. IX.] GONZALO P1ZARRO LORD OF PERU. 321 the time again came for him to unfurl the standard of revolt.33 Carbajal, after some further decisive movements, which fully established the ascendency of Pizarro over the south, returned in triumph to La Plata. There he occupied himself with working the silver mines of Potosi, in which a vein, recently opened, promised to make richer returns than any yet dis- covered in Mexico or Peru ; 39 and he was soon en- abled to send large remittances to Lima, deducting no stinted commission for himself, — for the cupidity of the lieutenant was equal to his cruelty. Gonzalo Pizarro was now undisputed master of Peru. From Quito to the northern confines of Chili, the whole country acknowledged his authori- ty. His fleet rode triumphant on the Pacific, and gave him the command of every city and hamlet on 38 For the expedition of Carba- jal, see Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 8, lib. 1, cap. 9, et seq. — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, cap. 1. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 4, cap. 28, 29, 36, 39. — Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 1, et seq. — Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, MS. It is impossible to give, in a page or two, any adequate idea of the hairbreadth escapes and perilous risks of Carbajal, not only from the enemy, but from his own men, whose strength he overtasked in the chase. They rival those of the renowned Scanderbeg, or our own Kentucky hero, Colonel Boone. They were, indeed, far more won- VOL. II. 41 derful than theirs, since the Span- ish captain had reached an ago when the failing energies usually crave repose. But the veteran's body seems to have been as in- sensible as his soul. 39 The vein now discovered at Potosi was so rich, that the other mines were comparatively deserted in order to work this. (Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, cap. 4.) The effect of the sudden influx of wealth was such, according to Gar- cilasso, that in ten years from this period an iron horseshoe, in that quarter, came to be worth nearly its weight in silver. Com. Real., Parte 1, lib. 8, cap. 24. * ... J 322 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. its borders. His admiral, Hinojosa, a discreet and gallant officer, had secured him Panama, and, march- ing across the Isthmus, had since obtained for him the possession of Nombre de Dios, — the principal key of communication with Europe. His forces were on an excellent footing, including the flower of the warriors who had fought under his brother, and who now eagerly rallied under the name of Pizarro ; while the tide of wealth that flowed in from the mines of Potosi supplied him with the resources of an European monarch. The new governor now began to assume a state correspondent with his full-blown fortunes. He was attended by a body-guard of eighty soldiers. He dined always in public, and usually with not less than a hundred guests at table. He even affected, it was said, the more decided etiquette of royalty, giving his hand to be kissed, and allowing no one, of whatever rank, to be seated in his presence.40 But this is denied by others. It would not be strange that a vain man like Pizarro, with a su- perficial, undisciplined mind, when he saw himself thus raised from an humble condition to the highest post in the land, should be somewhat intoxicated by the possession of power, and treat with supercilious- ness those whom he had once approached with deference. But one who had often seen him in 40 " Traia Guarda^de ochenta ba, iamuipocosquitabalaGorra." Alabarderos, i otros muchos de Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, Caballo, que le acompanaban, i ia cap. 5. fin su presencia ninguno se senta- CH. IX.] GONZALO PIZARRO LORD OF PERU. 323 his prosperity assures us, that it was not so, and that the governor continued to show the same frank and soldierlike bearing as before his elevation, min- gling on familiar terms with his comrades, and dis- playing the same qualities which had hitherto en- deared him to the people.41 However this may be, it is certain there were not wanting those who urged him to throw off his allegiance to the Crown, and set up an independent government for himself. Among these was his lieu- tenant, Carbajal, whose daring spirit never shrunk from following things to their consequences. He plainly counselled Pizarro to renounce his allegiance at once. " In fact, you have already done so," he said. " You have been in arms against a viceroy, have driven him from the country, beaten and slain him in battle. What favor, or even mercy, can you expect from the Crown ? You have gone too far either to halt, or to recede. You must go boldly on, proclaim yourself king ; the troops, the people, will support you." And he concluded, it is said, by ad- vising him to marry the Coya, the female represent- ative of the Incas, that the two races might hence- forth repose in quiet under a common sceptre ! ^ 41 Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte race, was not lost on the historian 2, lib. 4, cap. 42. of the Incas*, who has depicted Garcilasso had opportunities of Gonzalo Pizarro in more favorable personal acquaintance with Gon- colors than most of his own coun- zalo's manner of living; for, when trymen. a boy, he was sometimes admitted, 4a Ibid., Parte 2, lib. 4, cap, as he tells us, to a place at his 40. — Gomara, Hist, de las Ind., table. This courtesy, so rare from cap. 172. — Fernandez, Hist, del the Conquerors to any of the Indian Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 13-. 324 CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS. [BOOK IV. The advice of the bold counsellor was, perhaps, the most politic that could have been given to Pi- zarro under existing circumstances. For he was o like one who had heedlessly climbed far up a dizzy precipice, — too far to descend safely, while he had no sure hold where he was. His only chance was to climb still higher, till he had gained the summit. But Gonzalo Pizarro shrunk from the attitude, in which this placed him, of avowed rebellion. Not- withstanding the criminal course into which he had been, of late, seduced, the sentiment of loyalty was too deeply implanted in his bosom to be wholly eradicated. Though in arms against the measures and ministers of his sovereign, he was not prepared to raise the sword against that sovereign him- self. He, doubtless, had conflicting emotions in his bosom ; like Macbeth, and many a less noble nature, " Would not play false, And yet would wrongly win." And however grateful to his vanity might be the picture of the air-drawn sceptre thus painted to his imagination, he had not the audacity — we may, perhaps, say, the criminal ambition — to attempt to grasp it. The poet Molina has worked zalo. Julius Caesar himself was up this scene between Carbajal and not more magnanimous. his commander with good effect, " Sepa mi Key, sepa Espana, in his Amazonas en las Indias, Que muero por no ofenderla, where he uses something of a g^~££U, poet's license in the homage he Quanto infame en poseerla, pays to the modest merits of Gon- Una Corona ofrecida." CH. IX.] HERRERA. — GOMARA. 325 Even at this very moment, when urged to this desperate extremity, he was preparing a mission to Spain, in order to vindicate the course he had taken, and to solicit an amnesty for the past, with a full confirmation of his authority, as successor to his brother in the government of Peru. — Pizarro did not read the future with the calm, prophetic eye of Carbajal. Among the biographical notices of the writers on Spanish colonial affairs, the name of Herrera, who has done more for this vast subject than any other author, should certainly not be omitted. His account of Peru takes its proper place in his great work, the Historia General de las Indias, according to the chronological plan on which that history is arranged. But as it suggests reflections not different in character from those suggested by other portions of the work, I shall take the liberty to refer the reader to the Postscript to Book Third of the Con- guest of Mexico, for a full account of these volumes and their learned author. Another chronicler, to whom I have been frequently indebted in the progress of the narrative, is Francisco Lopez de Gomara. The reader will also find a notice of this author in the Conquest of Mexico, Vol. III., Book 5, Postscript. But as the remarks on his writings are there confined to his Crunica de Nueva Espana, it may be well to add here some reflections on his greater work, Historia de las Indias, in which the Peruvian story bears a conspicuous part. The " History of the Indies " is intended to give a brief view of the whole range of Spanish conquest in the islands and on the American continent, as far as had been achieved by the middle of the sixteenth century. For this account, Gomara, 'though it does not appear that he ever visited the New World, was in a situation that opened to him the best means of information. He was well acquainted with the principal men of the time, and gathered the details of their history from their own lips ; while, from his residence at court, he was in possession of the state of opinion there, and of the impression made by passing events on those most competent to judge of them. He was thus enabled to intro- duce into his work many interesting particulars, not to be found in other 326 GOM ARA. — OVIEDO. [Boon IV. records of the period. His range of inquiry extended beyond the mere doings of the Conquerors, and led him to a survey of the general re- sources of the countries he describes, and especially of their physical aspect and productions. The conduct of his work, no less than its dic- tion, shows the cultivated scholar, practised in the art of composition. Instead of the naivete, engaging, but childlike, of the old military chron- iclers, Gomara handles his various topics with the shrewd and piquant criticism of a man of the world ; while his descriptions are managed with a comprehensive brevity that forms the opposite to the long- winded and rambling paragraphs of the monkish annalist. These liter- ary merits, combined with the knowledge of the writer's opportunities for information, secured his productions from the oblivion which too often awaits the unpublished manuscript ; and he had the satisfaction to see them pass into more than one edition in his own day. Yet they do not bear the highest stamp of authenticity. The author too readily admits accounts into his pages which are not supported by con- temporary testimony. This he does, not from credulity, for his mind rather leans in an opposite direction, but from a want, apparently, of the true spirit of historic conscientiousness. The imputation of careless- ness in his statements — to use a temperate phrase — was brought against Gomara in his own day ; and Garcilasso tells us, that, when called to account by some of the Peruvian cavaliers for misstatements which bore hard on themselves, the historian made but an awkward explanation. This is a great blemish on his productions, and renders them of far less value to the modern compiler, who seeks for the well of truth undefiled, than many an humbler but less unscrupulous chronicle. There is still another authority used in this work, Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo, of whom I have given an account elsewhere ; and the reader curious in the matter will permit me to refer him for a critical notice of his life and writings to the Conquest of Mexico, Book 4, Postscript. — His account of Peru is incorporated into his great work, Natural e General Historic, de las Indias, MS., where it forms the forty-sixth and forty-seventh books. It extends from Pizarro's landing at Tumbez to Almagro's return from Chili, and thus covers the entire portion of what may be called the conquest of the country. The style of its execution, corresponding with that of the residue of the work to which it belongs, affords no ground for criticism different from that already passed on the general character of Oviedo's writings. This eminent person was at once a scholar and a man of the world. Living much at court, and familiar with persons of the highest distinc- tion in Castile, he yet passed much of his time in the colonies, and thus added the fruits of personal experience to what he had gained from the CH. IX.] CIEZA DE LEON. 327 reports of others. His curiosity was indefatigable, extending to every department of natural science, as well as to the civil and personal his- tory of the colonists. He was, at once, their Pliny and their Tacitus. His works abound in portraitures of character, sketched with freedom and animation. His reflections are piquant, and often rise to a philo- sophic tone, which discards the usual trammels of the age ; and the progress of the story is varied by a multiplicity of personal anecdotes, that give a rapid insight into the characters of the parties. With his eminent qualifications, and with a social position that com- manded respect, it is strange that so much of his writings — the whole of his great Historia de las Indias, and his curious Quincuagenas — should be so long suffered to remain in manuscript. This is partly chargeable to the caprice of fortune ; for the History was more than once on the eve of publication, and is even now understood to be pre- pared for the press. Yet it has serious defects, which may have con- tributed to keep it in its present form. In its desultory and episodical style of composition, it resembles rather notes for a great history, than history itself. It may be regarded in the light of commentaries, or as illustrations of the times. In that view his pages are of high worth, and have been frequently resorted to by writers who have not too scru- pulously appropriated the statements of the old chronicler, with slight acknowledgments to their author. It is a pity that Oviedo should have shown more solicitude to tell what was new, than to ascertain how much of it was strictly true. Among his merits will scarcely be found that of historical accuracy. And yet we may find an apology for this, to some extent, in the fact, that his writings, as already intimated, are not so much in the nature of finished compositions, as of loose memoranda, where every thing, rumor as well as fact, — even the most contradictory rumors, — are all set down at random, forming a miscellaneous heap of materials, of which the discreet historian may avail himself to rear a symmetrical fabric on foundations of greater strength and solidity. Another author worthy of particular note is Pedro Cieza de Leon. His Crdnica del Peru should more properly be styled an Itinerary, or rather Geography, of Peru. It gives a minute topographical view of the country at the time of the Conquest ; of its provinces and towns, both Indian and Spanish ; its flourishing sea-coast ; its forests, valleys, and interminable ranges of mountains in the interior ; with many inter- esting particulars of the existing population, — their dress, manners, architectural remains, and public works, while, scattered here and there, may be found notices of their early history and social polity. It is, in short, a lively picture of the country in its physical and moral relations, as it met the eye at the time of the Conquest, and in that transition 328 CIEZA DE LEON. [BooK IV. period when it was first subjected to European influences. The con- ception of a work, at so early a period, on this philosophical plan, re- minding us of that of Malte-Brun in our own time, — parva componere magnis, — was, of itself, indicative of great comprehensiveness of mind m its author. It was a task of no little difficulty, where there was yet no pathway opened by the labors of the antiquarian ; no hints from the sketch-book of the traveller, or the measurements of the sci- entific explorer. Yet the distances from place to place are all care- fully jotted down by the industrious compiler, and the bearings of the different places and their peculiar features are exhibited with sufficient precision, considering the nature of the obstacles he had to encounter. The literary execution of the work, moreover, is highly respectable, sometimes even rich and picturesque ; and the author describes the grand and beautiful scenery of the Cordilleras with a sensibility to its charms, not often found in the tasteless topographer, still less often in the rude Conqueror. Cieza de Leon came to the New World, as he informs us, at the early age of thirteen. But it is not till Gasca's time that we find his name enrolled among the actors in the busy scenes of civil strife, when he accompanied the president in his campaign against Gonzalo Pizarro. His Chronicle, or, at least, the notes for it, was compiled in such leisure as he could snatch from his more stirring avocations ; and after ten years from the time he undertook it, the First Part — all we have — was completed in 1550, when the author had reached only the age of thirty-two. It appeared at Seville in 1553, and the following year at Antwerp ; while an Italian translation, printed at Rome, in 1555, attest- ed the rapid celebrity of the work. The edition of Antwerp — the one used by me in this compilation — is in the duodecimo form, exceedingly well printed, and garnished with wood-cuts, in which Satan, — for the author had a full measure of the ancient credulity, — with his usual bugbear accompaniments, frequently appears in bodily presence. In the Preface, Cieza announces his purpose to continue the work in three other parts, illustrating respectively the ancient history of the country under the Incas, its conquest by the Spaniards, and the civil wars which ensued. He even gives, with curious minuteness, the contents of the several books of the projected history. But the First Part, as already noticed, was alone completed ; and the author, having returned to Spain, died there in 1560, at the premature age of forty-two, without having covered any portion of the magnificent ground-plan which he had thus confidently laid out. The deficiency is much to be regretted, considering the talent of the writer, and his opportunities for personal observation. But he has done enough to render us grateful for his labors. By the vivid delineation of scenes and scenery, as they were CH. IX.] CIEZA DE LEON. 329 presented fresh to his own eyes, he has furnished us with a background to the historic picture, — the landscape, as it were, in which the per- sonages of the time might be more fitly portrayed. It would have been impossible to exhibit the ancient topography of the land so faith- fully at a subsequent period, when old things had passed away, and the Conqueror, breaking down the landmarks of ancient civilization, had effaced many of the features even of the physical aspect of the country, as it existed under the elaborate culture of the Incas. < VOL II. 42 BOOK FIFTH. SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. r BOOK V. SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. CHAPTER I. GREAT SENSATION IN SPAIN. — PEDRO DE LA GASCA. — His EARLY LIFE. —His MISSION TO PERU. — His POLITIC CONDUCT. — His OFFERS TO PIZARRO. — GAINS THE FLEET. 1545 — 1547. WHILE the important revolution detailed in the preceding pages was going forward in Peru, rumors of it, from time to time, found their way to the mother-country ; but the distance was so great, and opportunities for communication so rare, that the ti- dings were usually very long behind the occurrence of the events to which they related. The govern- ment heard with dismay of the troubles caused by the ordinances and the intemperate conduct of the vice- roy ; and it was not long before it learned that this functionary was deposed and driven from his capi- tal, while the whole country, under Gonzalo Pizarro, was arrayed in arms against him. All classes were filled with consternation at this alarming intelli- 334 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BOOK V. gence ; and many that had before approved the ordinances now loudly condemned the ministers, who, without considering the inflammable temper of the people, had thus rashly fired a train which menaced a general explosion throughout the colo- nies.1 No such rebellion, within the memory of man, had occurred in the Spanish empire. It was compared with the famous war of the comumdades, in the beginning of Charles the Fifth's reign. But the Peruvian insurrection seemed the more formida- ble of the two. The troubles of Castile, being under the eye of the Court, might be the more easily managed ; while it was difficult to make the same power felt on the remote shores of the Indies. Lying along the distant Pacific, the principle of attraction which held Peru to the parent country was so feeble, that this colony might, at any time, with a less impulse than that now given to it, fly from its political orbit. It seemed as if the fairest of its jewels was about to fall from the imperial diadem ! Such was the state of things in the summer of 1545, when Charles the Fifth was absent in Ger- many, occupied with the religious troubles of the empire. The government was in the hands of his 1 " Que aqueUo era contra una los mas de ellos ; y que tambien cedula que .tenian del Emperador era contra otra cedula real que que les daba el repartimiento de los ninguno podia ser despojado de sus indios de su vida, y del hijo mayor, indios sin ser primero oido a justicia ynoteniendo hijos a sus mugeres, y condenado." Historia de Don con mandarles espresamente que Pedro Gasca, Obispo de Siguenza, se casasen como lo habian ya hecho MS. *' it-. • • ^ " , CH. I.] GREAT SENSATION IN SPAIN. 335 son, who, under the name of Philip the Second, was soon to sway the sceptre over the largest por- tion of his father's dominions, and who was then holding his court at Valladolid. He called together a council of prelates, jurists, and military men of greatest experience, to deliberate on the measures to be pursued for restoring order in the colonies. All agreed in regarding Pizarro's movement in the light of an audacious rebellion ; and there were few, at first, who were not willing to employ the whole strength of government* to vindicate the honor of the Crown, — to quell the insurrection, and bring the authors of it to puckish me nt.2 But, however desirable this might appear, a very little reflection showed that it was not easy to be done, if, indeed, it were practicable. The great distance of Peru required troops to be transported not merely across the ocean, but over the broad ex- tent of the great continent. And how was this to be effected, when the principal posts, the keys of communication with the country, were in the hands of the rebels, while their fleet rode in the Pacific, the mistress of its waters, cutting off all approach to the >coast ? Even if a Spanish force could be landed in Peru, what chance would it have, unaccus- tomed, as it would be, to the country and the cli- mate, of coping with the veterans of Pizarro, trained 2 MS. de Caravantes. — Hist, lebrity afterwards in the Nether- de Don Pedro Gasca, MS. lands. We may well believe his One of this council was the great voice was for coercion. Duke of Alva, of such gloomy ce- 336 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boon V. to war in the Indies and warmly attached to the person of their commander ? The new levies thus sent out might become themselves infected with the spirit of insurrection, and cast off their own al- legiance.3 Nothing remained, therefore, but to try concilia- tory measures. The government, howrever morti- fying to its pride, must retrace its steps. A free grace must be extended to those who submitted, and such persuasive arguments should be used, and such politic concessions made, as would convince the re- fractory colonists that it was their interest, as well as their duty, to return to their allegiance. But to approach the people in their present state of excitement, and to make those concessions with- out too far compromising the dignity and permanent authority of the Crown, was a delicate matter, for the success of which they must rely wholly on the character of the agent. After much deliberation, a competent person, as it was thought, was found in an ecclesiastic, by the name of Pedro de la Gasca, — a name which, brighter by contrast with the gloomy times in which it first appeared, still shines with undiminished splendor after the lapse of ages. Pedro de la Gasca was born, probably, towards •f'i. ' y ~ * * j ' * 3 " Ventilose la forma del reme- la imposibilidad y falto de dinero dio de tan grave caso en que huvo para llevar gente, cavallos, armas, dos opiniones ; la una de imbiar un municiones y vastimentos, y para gran soldado eon fuerza de gente a sustentarlos en tierra firme y pa- la demostracion de este castigo ; sarlos al Piru." MS. de Cara- la otra que se llevase el negocio vantes. por prudentes y suaves medios, por CH. I.] ,7 f PEDRO DE LA GASCA. 337 the close of the fifteenth century, in a small village in Castile, named Barco de Avila. He came, both by father and mother's side, from an ancient and noble lineage ; ancient indeed^ if, as his .biographers contend, he derived his descent from Casca, one of the conspirators against Julius Caesar!4 Having the misfortune to lose his father early in life, he was placed by his uncle in the famous seminary of Al- cala de Henares, founded by the great Ximenes. Here he made rapid proficiency in liberal studies, especially in those connected with his profession, and at length received the degree of Master of Theology. The young man, however^ discovered other tal- ents than those demanded by his sacred calling. The war of the comunidades was then raging in the country ; and the authorities of his college showed a disposition to take the popular side. But Gasca, putting himself at the head of an armed force, seized one of the gates of the city, and, with assist- ance from the royal troops, secured the place to the interests of the Crown. This early display of loy- alty was probably not lost on his vigilant sovereign.5 4 " Pasando a Espafia vinieron strong enough to hang a pedigree a tierra de Avila y quedo del nom- upon in Castile. : ^ bre dellos el lugar y Jfamilia de 5 This account of the 'early his- Gasca ; mudandose por la afinidad tory of Gasca I have derived chief- de la pronunciacion, que hay entre ly from a manuscript biographical las dos letras consonantes c. y. g. notice written in 1465, during the el nombre de Casca en Gasca." prelate's life. The name of the Hist, de Don Pedro Gasca, MS. author, who speaks apparently from Similarity of name is a peg quite personal knowledge, is not given ; VOL. II. 43 338 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BOOK V. From Alcala, Gasca was afterwards removed to Salamanca ; where he distinguished himself by his skill in scholastic disputation, and obtained the high- est academic honors in that ancient university, the fruitful nursery of scholarship and genius. He was subsequently intrusted with the management of some important affairs of an ecclesiastical nature, and made a member of the Council of the In- quisition. In this latter capacity he was sent to Valencia, about 1540, to examine into certain alleged cases of heresy in that quarter of the country. These were involved in great obscurity ; and, although Gasca had the assistance of several eminent jurists in the investigation, it occupied him nearly two years. In the conduct of this difficult matter, he showed so much penetration, and such perfect im- partiality, that he was appointed by the Cortes of Valencia to the office of visitador of that kingdom ; a highly responsible post, requiring great discretion in the person who rilled it, since it was his province to inspect the condition of the courts of justice and of finance, throughout the land, with authority to reform abuses. It was proof of extraordinary con- .;.= ;.-• r < • ;-.^ jv^fotf.* ,~;isr£^; but it seems to be the work of a which has been passed over in pro- scholar, and is written with a cer- found silence by Castilian histo- tain pretension to elegance. The rians. It is to be regretted that original MS. forms part of the the author did not continue his valuable collection of Don Pascual labors beyond the period when de Gayangos of Madrid. It is of the subject of them received his much value for the light it throws appointment to the Peruvian mis- on the early career of Gasca, sion. CH. I.] HIS EARLY LIFE. 339 sideration, that it should have been bestowed on Gasca ; since it was a departure from the established usage — and that in a nation most wedded to usage — to confer the office on any but a subject of the Aragonese crown.6 Gasca executed the task assigned to him with in- dependence and ability. While he was thus occu- pied, the people of Valencia were thrown into con- sternation by a meditated invasion of the French and the Turks, who, under the redoubtable Barbarossa, menaced the coast and the neighbouring Balearic isles. Fears were generally entertained of a rising of the Morisco population ; and the Spanish officers who had command in that quarter, being left without the protection of a navy, despaired of making head against the enemy. In this season of general panic, Gasca alone appeared calm and self-possessed. He remonstrated with the Spanish commanders on their un soldierlike despondency ; encouraged them to confide in the loyalty of the Moriscos ; and advised the immediate erection of fortifications along the shores for their protection. He was, in conse- quence, named one of a commission to superintend these works, and to raise levies for defending the sea-coast ; and so faithfully was the task performed, 6 " Era tanta la opinion que en sino fuere natural de la Corona de Valencia tenian de la integridad y Araugon, y consintiendo que aquel prudencia de Gasca, que en las fuero se derogase el Emperador lo Cortes de Monzon los Estados de concedi6 a instancia y peticion de- aquel Reyno le pidieron par Visi- llos." Hist, de Don Pedro Gasca, tador contra la costumbre y fuero MS. de aquel Reyno, que no puede serlo 340 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boo* V. that Barbarossa, after some ineffectual attempts to make good his landing, was baffled at all points, and compelled to abandon the enterprise as hopeless. The chief credit of this resistance must be assigned to Gasca, who superintended the construction of the defences, and who was enabled to contribute a large part of the requisite funds by the economical re- forms he had introduced into the administration of Valencia.7 ..^ . It was at this time, the latter part of the year 1545, that the council of Philip selected Gasca as the person most competent .to undertake the perilous mission to Peru.8 His character, indeed, seemed especially suited to it. His loyalty had been shown through his whole life. With great suavity of man- ners he combined the most intrepid resolution. Though his demeanour was humble, as beseemed his calling, it was far from abject; for he was sus- tained by a conscious rectitude of purpose, that im- pressed respect on all with whom he had inter- course. He was acute in his perceptions, had a shrewd knowledge of character, and, though bred to the cloister, possessed an acquaintance with affairs, 7 " Que parece cierto," says his que para ello hizo." Hist, de Don enthusiastic biographer, " que por Pedro Gasca, MS. disposicion Divina vino a hallarse 8 " Finding a lion would not Gasca entonces en la Ciudad de answer, they sent a lamb," says Valencia, para remedio de aquel Gomara; — " Finalmente, quiso Reyno y Islas de Mallorca y Me- embiar una Oveja, pues un Leon no norca e Iviza, segun la orden, pre- aprovecho ; y asi escogio al Licen- vencion y diligencia que en la de- ciado Pedro Gasca." Hist, de las fensa contra las armadas del Turco Ind., cap. 174. y Francia tuto, y las provisiones CH. I.] A': HIS MISSION TO PERU. 341 and even with military science, such as was to have bpen expected only from one reared in courts and camps. Without hesitation, therefore, the council unani- mously recommended him to the emperor, and requested his approbation of their proceedings. Charles had not been an inattentive observer of Gasca's course. His attention had been particu- larly called to the able manner in which he had conducted the judicial process against the here- tics of Valencia.9 The monarch saw, at once, that he was the man for the present emergency; and he immediately wrote to him, with his own hand, ex- pressing his entire satisfaction at the appointment, and intimating his purpose to testify his sense of his worth by preferring him to one of the principal sees then vacant. Gasca accepted the important mission now ten- dered to him without hesitation; and, repairing to Madrid, received the instructions of trie government as to the course to be pursued. They were express- ed in the most benign and conciliatory tone, perfect- ly in accordance with the suggestions of his own be- nevolent temper.10 But, while he commended the 9 Gasca made what the author ceives, of his zeal for the faith. — calls una Ireve y copyosa relation " Queriendo entender muy de raizo of the proceedings to the emperor todo lo que pasaha, como Principe in Valencia ; and the monarch was tan zeloso que era de las cosas de so intent on the inquiry, that he la religion." Hist, de Don Pedro devoted the whole afternoon to it, Gases, MS. notwithstanding his son Philip was 10 These instructions, the patri- waiting for him to attend a fiesta !. archal tone of which is highly irrefragable proof, as the writer con- creditable to the government, are 342 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BOOK V. tone of the instructions, he considered the powers with which he was to be intrusted as wholly incom- petent to their object. They were conceived in the jealous spirit with which the Spanish government usually limited the authority of its great colonial offi- cers, whose distance from home gave peculiar cause for distrust. On every strange and unexpected emergency, Gasca saw that he should be obliged to send back for instructions. This must cause delay, where promptitude was essential to success. The Court, moreover * as he represented to the council, was, from its remoteness from the scene of action, ut- terly incompetent to pronounce as to the expediency of the measures to be pursued. Some one should be sent out in whom the king could implicitly con- fide, and who should be invested with powers com- petent to every emergency ; powers not merely to decide on what was best, but to carry that decision into execution; and he boldly demanded that he should go not only as the representative of the sovereign, but clothed with all the authority of the sovereign himself. Less than this would defeat the very object for which he was to be sent. " For my- self," he concluded, " I ask neither salary nor com- pensation of any kind. I covet no display of state or military array. With my stole and breviary I trust to do the work that is committed to me.11 Infirm as given in vxtenso in the MS. of que la mas. fuerga que lleuaua, era Caravantes, and in- no other work su abito de clerigo y breuiario." which I have consulted. Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, Parte 11 " De suerte que juzgassen 1, lib. 2, cap. 16. CH. I.] HIS MISSION TO PERU. 343 I am in body, the repose of my own home would have been more grateful to me than this dangerous mission ; but I will not shrink from it at the bid- ding of my sovereign, and if, as is very probable, I may not be permitted again to see my native land, I shall, at least, be cheered by the consciousness of having done my best to serve its interests." 12 The members of the council, while they listened with admiration to the disinterested avowal of Gas- ca, were astounded by the boldness of his demands. Not that they distrusted the purity of his motives, for these were above suspicion. But the powers for which he stipulated were so far beyond those hith- erto delegated to a colonial viceroy, that they felt they had no warrant to grant them. They even shrank from soliciting them from the emperor, and required that Gasca himself should address the mon- arch, and state precisely the grounds on which de- mands so extraordinary were founded. Gasca readily adopted the suggestion, and wrote in the most full and explicit manner to his sovereign, who had then transferred his residence to Flanders. But Charles was not so tenacious, or, at least, so jealous, of authority, as his ministers. He had been too long in possession of it to feel that jealousy ; and, indeed, many years were not to elapse, before, oppressed by its weight, he was to resign it alto- 12 MS. de Caravantes. — Hist, did solicit one favor of the em- de Don Pedro Gasca, MS. — Fer- peror, — the appointment of his nandez, Hist, del Peru, Parte 1, brother, an eminent jurist, to a lib. 2, cap. 16, 17. vacant place on the bench of one Though not for himself, Gasca of the Castilian tribunals. 344 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BooK V. gether into the hands of his son. His sagacious mind, moreover, readily comprehended the difficul- ties of Gasca's position. He felt that the present extraordinary crisis was to be met only by extraor- dinary measures. He assented to the force of his vassal's arguments, and, on the sixteenth of Februa- ry, 1546, wrote him another letter expressive of his approbation, and intimated his willingness to grant him powers as absolute as those lie had requested. Gasca was to be styled President of the Royal Audience. But, under this simple title, he was placed at the head of every department in the colo- ny, civil, military, and judicial. He was empow- ered to make new repartimientos, and to confirm those already made. He might declare war, levy troops, appoint to all offices, or remove from them, at pleasure. He might exercise the royal prerogative of pardoning offences, and was especially authorized to grant aii amnesty to all, without exception, im- plicated in the present rebellion. He was, more- over, to proclaim at once the revocation of the odious ordinances. These two last provisions might be said to form the basis of all his operations. Since ecclesiastics were not to be reached by the secular arm, 'and yet were often found fomenting troubles in the cblonies, Gasca was permitted to banish from Peru such as he thought fit. He might even send home the viceroy, if the^ good of the country required if. Agreeably to his own sugges- tion, he was to receive no specified stipend ; but he had unlimited orders on the treasuries both of CH. I.] HIS MISSION TO PERU. 345 Panama and Peru. He was furnished with letters from the emperor to the principal authorities, not only in Peru, but in Mexico and the neighbouring colonies-, requiring their countenance and support ; and, lastly, blank letters, bearing the royal signa- ture, were delivered to him, which he was to fill up at his pleasure.13 While the grant of such unbounded powers ex- cited the warmest sentiments of gratitude in Gasca towards the sovereign who could repose hi, him so much confidence, it seems — which is more extra- ordinary — not to have raised corresponding feel- ings of envy in the courtiers. They knew well that it was not for himself that the good ecclesiastic had solicited them. On the contrary, some of the council were desirous that he should be preferred to the bishopric, as already promised him, before his departure ; conceiving that he would thus go with greater authority than as an humble ecclesiastic, and fearing, moreover, that Gasca himself, were it omitted, might feel some natural disappointment. But the president hastened to remove these im- pressions. " The honor would avail me little," he said, " where I am going ; and it would be mani- festly wrong to appoint me to ' an office in the Church, while 1 remain at such a distance that I cannot discharge the duties of it. The conscious- !3 Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 3, cap. 17, 6, cap. 6. — Herrera, Hist. Gene- 18. — Gomara, Hist, de las Ind^, ral, dec. 8, lib. 1, cap. 6. — MS. cap. 174. — Hist, de Don Pedro de Caravantes. — Fernandez, Hist. Gasca, MS. VOL. II. 44 346 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BooK V. ness of my insufficiency, " he continued, " should I never return, would lie heavy on my soul in my last moments." 14 The politic reluctance to accept the mitre has passed into a proverb. But there was no affectation here ; and Gasca's friends, yield- ing to his arguments, forbore to urge the matter further. , The new president now went forward with his preparations. They were few and simple ; for he was to be accompanied by a slender train of follow- ers, among whom the most conspicuous was Alonso de Alvarado, the gallant officer who, as the reader may remember, long commanded under Francisco Pizarro. He had resided of late years at court; and now at Gasca's request accompanied him to Peru, where his presence might facilitate negotia- tions with the insurgents, while his military experi- ence would prove no less valuable in case pf an appeal to arms.15 Some delay necessarily occurred in getting ready his little squadron, and it was not till the 26th of May, 1546, that the president and his suite embarked at San Lucar for the New World. After a prosperous voyage, and not" a long one for that day, he landed, about the middle of July, at the port of Santa Martha. Here he received the as- tounding intelligence of the battle of Afiaquito, of 14 " Especialmente, si alia mil- aceptado." Fernandez, Hist, de riesse 6 le matassen : que entoces Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 18. de nada le podria ser buena, sino 15 From this cavalier descended para partir desta vida, con mas the noble house of the counts of congoxa y pena de la poca cuenta Villamor in Spain. MS. de Cara- que daua de la prouision que auia vantes, ' CH. I.] HIS POLITIC CONDUCT 347 i the defeat and death of the viceroy, and of the man- ner in which Gonzalo Pizarro had since established his absolute rule over the land. Although these events had occurred several months before Gasca's departure from Spain, yet, so imperfect was the in- tercourse, no tidings of them had then reached that country. They now filled the president with great anxiety ; as he reflected that the insurgents, after so atrocious an act as the slaughter of the viceroy, might well despair of grace, and become reckless of conse- quences. -. He was careful, therefore, to have it un- derstood, that the date of his commission was subse- quent to that of the fatal battle, and that it author- ized an entire, amnesty of all offences hitherto committed against tjie government.16 Yet, in some points of view, the death of Blasco Nunez might be regarded as an auspicious circum- stance for the settlement of the country. Had he lived till Gasca's arrival, the latter would have been greatly embarrassed by the necessity of acting in concert with a person so generally detested in the colony, or by the . unwelcome alternative of sending him back to Castile. The insurgents, moreover, would, in all probability, be now more amenable to reason, since all personal animosity might naturally be buried in the grave of their enemy. The president was much embarrassed by deciding in what quarter he should attempt to enter Peru. 16 Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 21. 348 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BOOK V. Every port was in the hands of Pizarro, and was placed under the care of his officers, with strict charge to intercept any communications from Spain, and to detain such persons as bore a commission from that country until 'his pleasure could be known respecting them. Gasca, at length, decided on crossing over to Nombre de Dios, then held with a strong force by Hernan Mexia, an officer to whose charge Gonzalo had committed this strong gate to his dominions, as to a person on whose attachment to his cause he could confidently rely. Had Gasca appeared off this place in a menacing attitude, with a military array, or, indeed, with any display of official pomp that might have awakened distrust in the commander, he would doubtless have found it no easy matter to effect a landing. But Mexia saw nothing to apprehend in the approach of a poor ecclesiastic, without an armed force, with hardly even a retinue to support him, coming solely, as it seemed, on an errand of mercy. No sooner, therefore, was he acquainted with the character of the envoy and his mission, than he prepared to re- ceive him with the honors due to his rank, and marched out at the head of his soldiers, together with a considerable body of ecclesiastics resident in the place. There was nothing in the person of Gasca, still less in his humble clerical attire and modest retinue, to impress the vulgar spectator with feelings of awe or' reverence. Indeed, the poverty- stricken aspect, as it seemed; of himself and his fol- lowers, so different from the usual state affected by CH. I.] HIS POLITIC CONDUCT. > 349 the Indian viceroys, excited some merriment among the rude soldiery, who did not scruple to break their coarse jests on his appearance, in hearing of the president himself.17 " If this is the sort of governor his Majesty sends over to us," they exclaimed, " Pizarro need not trouble his head much about it." Yet the president, far from being ruffled by this ribaldry, or from showing resentment to its authors, submitted to it with the utmost humility, and only seemed the more grateful to his own brethren, who, by their respectful demeanour,, appeared anxious to do him honor. But, however plain and unpretending the manners of Gasca, Mexia,.on his first interview with him, soon discovered that he had no common man to deal with. The president, after briefly " explaining the nature of his commission, told him that he had come as a messenger of peace ; and that it was on peace- ful measures he relied for his success. He then stated the general scope of his commission, his au- thority to grant a free pardon to all, without excep- tion, who at. once submitted to government, and, finally, his purpose to proclaim the revocation of the ordinances. The objects of the revolution were thus attained. To contend longer would be mani- fest rebellion, and that without a motive ; and he urged the commander by every principle of loyalty 17 " Especialmente muchos de sidente (viendo que era necessario) los soldados, que estauan desaca- x hazia las orejas sordas." Ibid., tados, y decian palabras feas, y Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 23. desuergdgadas. A lo qual el Pre- 350 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BooK V. and patriotism to support him in settling the dis- tractions of the country, and bringing it back to its allegiance. The candid and conciliatory language of the president, so different from the arrogance of Blasco Nunez, and the austere demeanour of Vaca de Castro, made a sensible impression on Mexia. He admitted the force of Gasca's reasoning, and flattered himself that Gonzalo Pizarro would not be insensible to it. Though attached to the for- tunes of that leader, he was loyal in heart, and, like most of the party, had been led by accident, rather than by design, into rebellion ; and now that so good an opportunity occurred to do it with safety, hje was not unwilling to retrace his steps, and secure the royal favor by thus early returning to his allegiance. This he signified to the presi- dent, assuring him of his hearty cooperation in the good work of reform.18 This was an important step for Gasca. It was yet more important for him to secure the obedience of Hinojosa, the governor of Panama, in the har- bour of which city lay Pizarro's navy, consisting of two-and-twenty vessels. But it was not easy to approach this officer. He was a person of much higher character than was usually found among the reckless adventurers in the New World. He was attached to the interests of Pizarro, and the latter 18 Ibid., ubi supra. — Carta de 1546. — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, MS. lib. 6, cap. 6. — Herrera, Hist. — Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano General, dec. 8, lib. 2, cap. 5. CH. I.] HIS POLITIC CONDUCT. 351 had requited him by placing him in command of his armada and of Panama, the key to his territories on the Pacific. The president first Sent Mexia and Alonso de Alvarado to prepare the way for his own coming, by advising Hinojosa of the purport of his mission. He soon after followed, and was received by that commander with every show of outward respect. But while the latter listened with deference to the representations of Gasca, they failed to work the change in him which they had wrought in Mexia ; and he concluded by asking the president to show him his powers, and by inquiring whether they gave him authority to confirm Pizarro in his present post, to which he was entitled no less by his own services than by the general voice of the people. This was an embarrassing question. Such a con- cession would have been altogether too humiliating to the Crown ; but to have openly avowed this at the present juncture to so stanch an adherent of Pizarro might have precluded all further negotiation. The president evaded the question, therefore, by simply stating, that the time had not yet come for him to produce his powers, but that Hinojosa might be assured they were such as to secure an ample recompense to every loyal servant of his country.19 Hinojosa was not satisfied ; and he immediately 19 Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, cap. 7. — Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 25. — Zarate, MS. de Caravantes. 352 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BooK V. wrote to Pizarro, acquainting him with Gasca's ar- rival and with the object of his mission, at the same time plainly intimating his own conviction that the president had no authority to confirm him in the government. But before the departure of the ship, Gasca secured the services of a Dominican friar, who had taken his passage on board for one of the towns on the coast. This man he intrusted with manifestoes, setting forth the purport of his visit, and proclaiming the abolition of the ordinances, with a free pardon to all who returned to their obe- dience. He wrote, also, to the prelates and to the corporations of the different cities. The former lie requested to cooperate with him in introducing a spirit of loyalty and subordination among the people, while he intimated to the towns his purpose to con- fer with them hereafter, in order to devise some ef- fectual measures for the welfare of the country. These papers the Dominican engaged to distribute, himself, among the principal cities of the colony; and he faithfully kept his word, though, as it proved, at no little hazard of his life. The seeds thus scat- tered might many of them fall on barren ground. But the greater part, the president trusted, would take root in the hearts of the people ; and he pa- tiently waited for the harvest. f^uu^ Meanwhile, though he failed to remove the scruples of Hinojosa, the courteous manners of Gasca, and his mild, persuasive discourse, had a vis- ible effect on other individuals with whom he had daily intercourse. ' Several of these, and among CH. I.] HIS OFFERS TO PIZARRO. 353 them some of the principal cavaliers in Panama, as well as in the squadron, expressed their willingness to join the royal cause, and aid the president in maintaining it. Gasca profited by their assistance to open a communication with the authorities of Guatemala and Mexico, whom he advised of his mission, while he admonished them to allow no in- tercourse to be carried on with the insurgents on the coast of Peru. He, at length, also prevailed on the governor of Panama to furnish him with the means of entering into communication with Gonzalo Pi- zarro himself; and a ship was despatched to Lima, bearing a letter from Charles the Fifth, addressed to that chief, with an epistle also from Gasca. The emperor's communication was couched in the most condescending and even conciliatory terms. Far from taxing Gonzalo with rebellion, his royal master affected to regard his conduct as in a manner imposed on him by circumstances, especially by the obduracy of the viceroy Nunez in denying the colo- nists the inalienable right of petition. He gave no intimation of an intent to confirm Pizarro in the government, or, indeed, to remove him from it ; but simply referred him to Gasca as one who would ac- quaint him with the royal pleasure, and with whom he was to cooperate in restoring tranquillity to the country. Gasca's own letter was pitched on the same pol- itic key. He remarked, however, that the exi- gencies which had hitherto determined Gonzalo's line of conduct existed no longer. All that had VOL. II. 45 354 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boon V. been asked was conceded. There was nothing now to contend for ; and it only remained for Pizarro and his followers to show their loyalty and the sin cerity of their principles by obedience to the Crown. Hitherto, the president said, Pizarro had been in arms against the viceroy ; and the people had sup- ported him as against a common enemy. If he prolonged the contest^ that enemy must be his sovereign. In such a struggle, the people would be sure to desert him ; and Gasca conjured him, by his Honor as a cavalier, and his duty as a loyal vassal, to respect the royal authority, and not rashly provoke a contest which must prove to the world that his con- duct hitherto had been dictated less by patriotic motives than by selfish ambition. This letter, which was conveyed in language the most courteous and complimentary to the subject of it, was of great length. It was accompanied by another much more concise, to Cepeda, the in- triguing lawyer, who, as Gasca knew, had the greatest influence over Pizarro, in the absence of Carbajal, then employed in reaping the silver har- vest from the newly discovered mines of Potosi.20 In this epistle, Gasca affected to defer to the cun- ning politician as a member of the Royal Audience, and he conferred with him on the best manner of supplying a vacancy in that body. These several despatches were committed to a cavalier, named 20 " El Licenciado Cepeda que quiero mucho." Carta de Gonzalo tengo yo agora por teniente, de Pizarro a Valdivia, MS. quien yo hago mucho caso i le ii:, ' .- »i Ibid., Parte 2, lib. 5, cap. 27. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 7, cap. 3. Garcilasso de la Vega, who was a boy at^the time, witnessed Pizar- ro's entry into Cuzco. He writes, therefore, from memory ; though after an interval of many years. In consequence of his father's rank, he had easy access to the palace of Pizarro ; and this portion of his narrative may claim the considera- tion due not merely to a contem- porary, but to an eyewitness. CHAPTER III. DISMAY IN GASCA'S CAMP. — His WINTER QUARTERS. — RESUMES HIS MARCH. — CROSSES THE APURIMAC. — PIZARRO'S CONDUCT IN CUZCO. HE ENCAMPS NEAR THE ClTY. ROUT OF XAQUIXA GUANA. 1547—1548. WHILE the events recorded in the preceding chapter were passing, President Gasca had remain- ed at Xauxa, awaiting further tidings from Cente- no, little doubting that they would inform him of the total discomfiture of the rebels. Great was his dismay, therefore, on learning the issue of the fatal conflict at Huarina, — that the royalists had been scattered far and wide before the sword of Pizarro, while their commander had vanished like an apparition,1 leaving the greatest uncertainty as to his fate. The intelligence spread general consternation among the soldiers, proportioned to their former con- fidence ; and they felt it was almost hopeless to con- tend with a man who seemed protected by a charm that made him invincible against the greatest odds. The president, however sore his disappointment, 1 '" Y salio a la Ciudad de los fue, sino que parecio encantami- Reyes, sin que Carbajal, ni alguno ento." Garcilasso, Com. Real., de los suyos supiesse por donde Parte 2, lib. 5, cap. 22. 400 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boos V. was careful to conceal it, while he endeavoured to restore the spirits of his followers. " They had been too sanguine," he said, " and it was in this way that Heaven rebuked their presumption. Yet it was but in the usual course of events, that Provi- dence, when it designed to humble the guilty, should allow him to reach as high an elevation as possible, that his fall might be the greater ! " But while Gasca thus strove to reassure the su- perstitious and the timid, he bent his mind, with his Usual energy, to repair the injury which the cause had sustained by the defeat at Huarina. He sent a detachment under Alvarado to Lima, to collect such of the royalists as . had fled thither from the field of battle, and to dismantle the ships of their cannon, a#d bring them to the camp. Another body was sent to Guamanga, about sixty leagues from Cuzco, for the similar purpose of protecting the fugitives, and also of preventing the Indian caciques from for- warding supplies to the insurgent army in Cuzco. As his own 'forces now amounted to considerably more than any his opponent could bring against him, Gasca determined to break up his camp without further delay, and march on the Inca capital.2 2 Gasca, according to Ondegar- ed by the hungry Conquerors. — do, supported his army, during his " Cuando el Sefior Presidente Gasca stay at Xauxa, from the Peruvian passo con la gente de castigo de granaries in the valley, as he found Gonzalo Pizarro por el Valle de a quantity of maize still remain- Jauja, estuvo alii siete semanas a ing in them sufficient for several lo que me acuerdo, se hallaron en years' consumption. It is pass- deposito maiz de cuatro y de tres y ing strange that these depositaries de dos afios mas de 15,000 hane- should have been so long respect- gas junto al camino, e alii comio la CH. HI.] GASCA'S WINTER QUARTERS. 401 Quitting Xauxa, December 29, 1547, he passed through Guamanga, and after a severe march, ren- dered particularly fatiguing by the inclement state of the weather and the badness of the roads, he entered the province of Andaguaylas. It was a fair and fruitful country, and since the road beyond would take him into the depths of a gloomy sierra, scarcely passable in the winter snows, Gasca resolv- ed to remain in his present quarters until the se- verity of the season was mitigated. As many of the troops had already contracted diseases from ex- posure to the incessant rains, he established a camp hospital ; and the good president personally visited the quarters of the sick, ministering to their wants, and winning their hearts by his sympathy.3 Meanwhile, the royal camp was strengthened by the continual arrival .of reinforcements ; for not- withstanding the shock that was caused through- out the country by the first tidings of Pizarro's vic- tory, a little reflection convinced the people that the right was the strongest, and must eventually prevail. There came, also, with these levies, several of the most distinguished captains in the country. Cen- teno, burning to retrieve his late disgrace, after re- covering from his illness, joined the camp with his followers from Lima. Benalcazar, the conqueror of Quito, who, as the reader will remember, had shared gente." Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 82-85. MS. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq . , 3 Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. MS. — Cieza de Leon, cap. 90. 7, cap. 4. —Fernandez, Hist, del VOL. II. 51 402 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boon V in the defeat of Blasco Nunez in the north, came with another Detachment • and was soon after fol- lowed by Valdivia, the famous conqueror of Chili, who, having returned to Peru to gather recruits for his expedition, had learned the state of the country, and had thrown himself, without hesitation, into the same scale with the president, though it brought him into collision with his old friend and comrade, Gonzalo Pizarro. The arrival of this last ally was greeted with general rejoicing by the camp ; for Valdivia, schooled in the .Italian wars, was esteemed the most accomplished soldier in Peru ; and Gasca complimented him by declaring " he would rather see him than a reinforcement of eight hundred men!"4 Besides these warlike auxiliaries, the president was attended by a train of ecclesiastics and ci- vilians, such as was rarely found in the martial fields of Peru. Among 'them were the bishops of Quito, Cuzco, and Lima, the four judges of the new Audience, and a considerable number of churchmen and monkish missionaries.5 However little they might serve to strengthen his arm in battle, their presence gave authority and something of a sacred character to the cause, which had their effect on the minds of the soldiers. The wintry season now began to give way before 4 At least, so says Valdivia in hombres.de guerra que le pudieran his letter to the emperor. "Idixo venir aquella hora." Carta de publico que estimara mas mi per- Valdivia, MS. eona que a los mejores ochocientos 5 Zarate. MS. j<5 C^H. III.] RESUMES HIS MARCH. 403 the mild influence of spring, which makes itself early felt in these tropical, but from their elevation temperate, regions ; and Gasca, after nearly three months' detention in Andaguaylas, mustered his levies for the final march upon Cuzco.6 Their whole number fell little short of two thousand, — the largest European force yet assembled in Peru. Nearly half were provided with fire-arms ; and in- fantry was more available than horse in the moun- tain countries which they were to traverse. But his cavalry was also numerous, and he carried with him a train of eleven heavy guns. The equipment and discipline of the troops were good ; they were well provided with ammunition- and military stores ; and were led by officers whose names were associated with the most memorable achievements in the New World. All who had any real interest in the weal of the country were to be found, in short, under the president's banner, making a striking contrast to the wild and reckless adventurers who now swelled the ranks of Pizarro. Gasca, who did not affect a greater knowledge of military affairs than he really possessed, had giv- en the charge of his forces to Hinojosa, naming the Marshal Alvarado as second in command. Valdivia, Who came after these dispositions had been made, accepted a colonel's commission, with the under- 6 Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. present in the campaign, he tells 90. us ; so that his testimony, always The old chronicler, or rather good, becomes for the remaining geographer, Cieza de Leon, was events of more than usual value 404 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boon V standing that he was to be consulted and employed in all matters of moment.7 — Having completed his arrangements, the president broke up his camp in March, 1548, and moved upon Cuzco. The first obstacle to his progress was the river Abancay, the bridge over which had been broken down by the enemy. But as there was no force to annoy them on the opposite bank, the army was not long in preparing a new bridge, and throwing it across the stream, which in this place had nothing formidable in its character. The road now struck into the heart of a mountain region, where woods, precipices, and ravines were mingled together in a sort of chaotic confusion, with here and there a green and sheltered valley, glittering like an island of verdure amidst the wild breakers of a troubled ocean ! The bold peaks of the Andes, rising far above the clouds, Were enveloped in snow, which, descending far down their sides, gave a piercing coldness to the winds that swept over their surface, until men and horses were benumbed and stiffened under their influence. The roads, in these regions, 7 Valdivia, indeed, claims to quelesmandaseacercade la guerra, have had the whole command in- i cumpliesen mis mandamientos trusted to him by Gasca. " Luego como los suyos." (Carta de Val- me dio el autoridad toda que traia divia, MS.) But other authorities de parte de V. M. para en los casos state it, with more probability, as tocantes a la guerra, i me encargo given in the text. Valdivia, it todo el exercito, i le puso baxo de must be confessed, loses nothing mi mano rogando i pidiendo por from modesty. The whole of his merced de su parte a todos aquellos letter to the emperor is written in caballeros capitanes e gente de a strain of self-glorification, rarely guerra, i de la de V . M. mandan- matched even by a Castilian hi- doles me obedesciesen en todo lo dalgo. CH. III.] ' CROSSES THE APURIMAC. 405 were in some places so narrow and broken, as to be nearly impracticable for cavalry. The cav- aliers were compelled to dismount ; and the presi- dent, with the rest, performed the journey on foot, so hazardous, that, even in later times, it has been no uncommon thing for the sure-footed mule to be precipitated, with its cargo of silver, thousands of feet down the sheer sides of a precipice.8 By these impediments of the ground, the march was so retarded, that the troops seldom accomplish- ed more than two leagues a day.9 Fortunately, the distance was not great ; and the president looked with more apprehension to the passage of the Apurimac, which he was now approaching. This river, one of the most formidable tributaries of the Amazon, rolls its broad waters through the gorges of the Cordilleras, that rise up like an im- mense rampart of rock on either side, presenting a natural barrier which it would be easy for an enemy to make good against a force much superior to his own. The bridges over this river, as Gasca learned before his departure from Andaguaylas, had been all destroyed by Pizarro. The president, accordingly, had sent to explore the banks of the stream, and determine the most eligible spot for reestablishing communications with the opposite side. The place selected was near the Indian village of Cotapampa, about nine leagues from Cuzco ; for the river, though rapid and turbulent from being com- pressed within more narrow limits, was here less 8 Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. 91. , 9 MS. de Caravantes. , 406 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boo* V than two hundred paces in width ; a distance, how- ever, not inconsiderable. Directions had been given to collect materials in large quantities in the neigh- bourhood of this spot as soon as possible ; and at the same time, in order to perplex the enemy and com- pel him to divide his forces, should he be disposed to resist, materials in smaller quantities were as- sembled on three other points of the river. The officer stationed in the neighbourhood of Cotapampa was instructed not to begin to lay the bridge, till the arrival of a sufficient force should accelerate the work, and insure its success. The structure in question, it should be remem- bered, was . one of tfyose suspension bridges for- merly employed by the Incas, and still used in cross- ing the deep and turbulent rivers of South America. They are made of osier withes, twisted into enor- mous cables, which, when stretched across the wa- ter, are attached to heavy blocks of masonryj or, where it will serve, to the natural rock. Planks are laid transversely across these cables, and a passage is thus secured, which, notwithstanding the light and fragile appearance of the bridge, as it swings at an elevation sometimes of several hun- dred feet above the abyss, affords a tolerably safe means of conveyance for men, and even for such heavy burdens as artillery.10 1° Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, y Conq., MS. — MS. de Caravan- Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 86, 87.— tes. — Carta de Valdivia, MS.— Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 7, Relacion del Lie. Gasca, MS. cap. 5. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. CH. III.' UKOSSES THE APURIMAC 407 Notwithstanding the peremptory commands of Gasca, the officer intrusted with collecting the ma- terials for the bridge was so anxious to have the honor of completing the work himself, that he com- menced it at once. The president, greatly dis- pleased at learning this, quickened his march, in order to cover the work with his whole force. But, while toiling through the mountain labyrinth, tidings were brought him that a party of the enemy had demolished the small portion of the bridge already made, by. cutting the cables on the opposite bank. Valdivia, accordingly, hastened forward at the head of two hundred arquebusiers, while the main body of the army followed with as much speed as practi- cable. That officer, on reaching the spot, found that the interruption 4i ad .been caused by a small party-of Pizarro's followers, not exceeding twenty in -number, assisted by £ stronger body of Indians. He at once caused balsas, broad and clumsy barks, or rather rafts, of the country, to be provided, and by this means passed his men over, without opposition, to the other side of the river. The enemy, discon- certed by the arrival of such a force, retreated and made the best of their way to report the affair to their commander at Cuzco. Meanwhile, Valdivia, who saw the importance of \ every moment in the present crisis, pushed forward the work with the greatest vigor. Through all that night his weary troops continued the labor, which was already well advanced, when the president and his battalions, 408 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BooK V. emerging from the passes of the Cordilleras, pre- sented themselves at sunrise on the opposite bank. .Little time was given for repose, as all felt assured that the success of their enterprise hung on the short respite now given them by the improvident enemy. The president, with his principal officers, took part in the labor with the common soldiers;11 and before ten o'clock in the evening, Gasca had the satisfaction to see the bridge so well secured, that the leading files of the army, unencumbered by their baggage, might venture to cross it. A short time sufficed to place several hundred men on the other bank. But here a new difficulty, not less formidable than that of the river, presented itself to the troops. The ground rose up 'with an abrupt, almost precipitous, swell from the river-side, till, in the highest peaks, it reached an elevation of several thousand feet. This steep ascent, though •« not to its full height, indeed, was now to be .surmounted. The difficul- ties of the ground, broken up into fearful chasms and water-courses, and tangled with thickets, were greatly increased by the darkness of the night ; and the soldiers, as they toiled slowly upward, were filled with apprehension, a;kin to fear, from ,the un- certainty whether each successive step might not bring them into an ambuscade, for which the ground w'as so favorable. More than once, the Spaniards 11 "Lagente que estaua, de la persona quisiesse tener preuilegio vna parte y de la otra, todps ti- para dexar de trabajar." Fernan- tauan y trabajauan al poner, y dez. Hist, del Peru, Parte 1, lib. apretar de las Criznejas : sin que 2, cap. 87. el Presidente ni Obispos, ni otra OH. III.] CROSSES THE APURIMAC. 409 were thrown into a panic by false reports that the enemy were upon them. But Hinojosa and Valdi- via were at hand to rally their men, and cheer them on, .until, at length,, before dawn broke, the bold cavaliers and their followers placed themselves on the highest point traversed by the road, where they waked the arrival of the president. This was not long delayed ; and in the course of the follow- ing morning, the royalists were already in sufficient strength to bid defiance to their enemy. The passage of the river had been effected with less loss than might have been expected, considering the darkness of the night, and the numbers that crowded over the aerial causeway. Some few, in- deed, fell into the water, and were drowned ; and more than sixty horses, in the attempt to swim them across the river, were hurried down the current, and dashed against the rocks below.12 It still required time to bring up the heavy train of ordnance and the military wagons; and the president encamped on the strong ground which he now occupied, to await their arrival, and to breathe his troops after their extraordinary efforts. In these quarters we must leave him, to acquaint the reader with the state of things .in the insurgent army, and with the 12 " Aquel dia pasaron mas de en vnas pefias, donde se hacian quatrocientos Hombres, llevando peda§os, sin daries lugar el impetu los Caballos a nado, encima de del rio, a que pudiesen nadar." ellos atadas sus armas, i arcabuces, Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 7, easo que se perdieron mas de se- cap. 6. — Gomara, Hist, de las senta Caballos, que con la corriente Indias, cap. 184. grande se desataron, i luego daban VOL. II. 52 410 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BooK V cause of its strange remissness in guarding the passes of the Apurimac.13 From the time of Pizarro's occupation of Cuzco, he had lived in careless luxury in the midst of his followers, like a soldier of fortune in the hour of prosperity ; enjoying the present, with as little con- cern for the future as if the crown of Peru were already fixed irrevocably upon his head. It was otherwise with Carbajal. He' looked on the victory at Huarina as the commencement, not the close, of the struggle for empire ; and he was indefatigable in placing his troops in the best condition for maintain- ing their present advantage. At the first streak of dawn, the veteran might be seen mounted on his mule, with the garb and air of a common soldier, riding about in the different quarters of the capital, sometimes superintending the manufacture of arms, or providing military stores, and sometimes drilling his men, for he* was most careful always to maintain the strictest discipline,14 His restless spirit seemed to find no pleasure but in incessant action ; living, as he had always done, in the turmoil of military ad- 13 Ibid., ubi supra. — Fernandez, y bermejo, yo no le vi en otra ca- Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, ualgadura en todo el tiempo que cap. 87. — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, estuuo en el Cozco antes de la lib. 7, cap. 5. — Pedro Pizarro, batalla de Sacsahuana. Era tan Descub. y Conq., MS. — MS. de contino y diligete en solicitar lo Caravantes. — Carta de Valdivia, que a su exercito conuenia, que a MS. — Cieza de Leon, Cronica, todas horas del dia y de la noche cap. 91. — Relacion del Lie. Gasca, le topauan sus'soldados haziendo MS. su oficio, y los agenos." Garci- 14 " Andaua siempre en vna lasso, Com. Real., Parte 1, lib. 5, mula crescida de color entre pardo cap. 27. CH. III.] PIZARRO'S CONDUCT IN QUZCO. 411 venture, he had no relish for any thing, unconnected with war, and in the city saw only the materials for a well-organized camp. With these feelings, he was much dissatisfied at the course taken by his younger leader, who now professed his intention to abide where he was, and, when the enemy advanced, to give him battle. Carbajal advised a very different policy. He had not that full confidence, it would seem, in the loyalty of Pizarro's partisans, at least, not of those who had once followed the banner of Centeno. These men, some three hundred in number, had been in a man- ner, compelled to take service under Pizarro. They showed no heartiness in the cause, and the veteran strongly urged his commander to disband them at once ; since it was far better to go to battle with a few faithful followers than with a .host of the false and faint-hearted. But Carbajal thought, also, that his leader was not sufficiently strong in numbers to- encounter his opponent, supported as he was by the best cap- tains of Peru. He advised, accordingly, that he should abandon Cuzco, carrying off all the treasure, provisions, and stores of every kind from the city, which might, in any tvay, serve the necessities of the royalists. The latter, on their arrival, disap- pointed by the poverty of a place where they had expected to find so much booty, would become dis- gusted with the service. Pizarro, meanwhile, might take refuge with his men in the neighbouring fast- nesses, where, familiar with the ground, it would be 412 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boon V. easy to elude -the enemy; and if the latter perse- vered in the pursuit, with numbers diminished by desertion, it would not be difficult in the moun- tain passes to find an opportunity for assailing him at advantage. — Such was the wary counsel of the old warrior. But it was not to the taste of his fiery commander, who preferred to risk the chances of a battle, rather than turn nis back on a foe. Neither did Pizarro show more favor to a propo- sition, said to have been made -by the Licentiate Cepeda, — that he should avail himself of his late success to enter into negotiations with Gasca. Such advice, from the man who had so recently resisted all overtures of the president, could only have proceeded from a conviction, that the late victory placed Pizarro on a vantage-ground for de- manding terms far better than would have been before conceded to him. It may be that subse- quent experience had also led him to distrust the fidelity of Gonzalo's followers, or, possibly, the ca- pacity of their chief to conduct them through the present crisis. Whatever may have been the mo- tives of the slippery counsellor, Pizarro gave little heed to the suggestion, and even showed some re- sentment, as the matter was pressed on him. In every contest, with Indian or -European, whatever had been the odds, he had come off victorious. He was not now for the first time to despond : and he resolved to remain in Cuzco, and hazard all on the chances of a battle. There was something in the hazard itself captivating to his bold and CH. III.] PIZARRO'S CONDUCT IN CUZCO. 413 chivalrous temper. In this, too, he was confirmed by some of the cavaliers who had followed him through all his fortunes ; reckless young adventur- ers, who, like himself, would rather risk all on a single throw of the dice, than adopt the cautious, and, as it seemed to them, timid, policy of graver counsellors. It was by such advisers, then, that Pizarro's future course was to be shaped.15 Such was the state of affairs in Cuzco, when Pizarro's soldiers returned with the tidings, that a detachment of the enemy had crossed the Apuri- mac, and were busy in reestablishing the bridge. Carbajal saw at once the absolute necessity of maintaining this pass. " It is my affair," he said ; " I claim to be employed on this service. Give me but a hundred picked men, and I will engage to defend the pass against an army, and bring back the chaplain — the name by which the pres- ident was known in the rebel camp — a prisoner to Cuzco." 16 " I cannot spare you, father," said Gonzalo, addressing him by this affectionate epi- thet, which he usually applied to his aged follow- er,17 " I cannot spare you so far from my own person " ; and he gave the commission to Juan de 15 Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte }6 " Paresceme vuestra Senoria 2, lib. 5, cap. 27. — Gomara, Hist, se vaya a la vuelta del Collao y de las Indias, cap. 182. — Eernan- me deje cien hombres, los que yo dez, Hist, del Peru, Parte 1, lib. escojiere, que yo me ire a vista 2, cap. 88. deste capellan, que an si llamaba e"l " Finalmente, Gon§alo Pizarro al presidente." Pedro Pizarro, dixo que queria prouar su ventura : Descub. y Conq., MS. pues siernpre auia sido vencedor, y 17 Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte iamas vencido." Ibid., ubi supra. 2, lib. 5, cap. 31. 414 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boon V. ; Acosta, a young cavalier warmly attached to his commander, and who had given undoubted evidence of his valor on more than one occasion, but who, as the event proved, was signally deficient in the qualities demanded for so critical an undertaking as the present. Acosta, accordingly, was placed at the head of two hundred mounted musketeers, and, after much wholesome counsel from Carbajal, set out on his expedition. But he soon forgot the veteran's advice, and moved at so dull a pace over the difficult roads, that, although the distance was not more than nine leagues, he found, on his arrival, the bridge com- pleted, and so large a body of the enemy already crossed, that he was in no 'strength to attack them. Acosta did, indeed, meditate an ambuscade by night ; but the design was betrayed by a deserter, and he contented himself with retreating to a safe distance, and sending for a further reinforcement from Cuzco. Three hundred men were promptly detached to his support ; but when they arrived, the enemy was already planted in full force on the crest of the eminence. The golden opportunity was ir- recoverably lost; and the disconsolate cavalier rode back in all haste to report the failure of his en- terprise to his commander .in Cuzco.18 18 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y dated at Conception, was written Conq., MS. — Fernandez, Hist about two years after the events del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 88. above recorded. It is chiefly taken — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib.<7, up with his Chilian conquests, to cap. 5. — Carta de Valdivia, MS. which his campaign .under Gasca, Valdivia's letter to the emperor, on his visit to Peru, forms a kind CH. III.] HE ENCAMPS NEAR T.HE CITY. 415 The only question now to be decided was as to the spot where Gonzalo Pizarro should give battle to his enemies. He determined at once to abandon the capital," and wait for his opponents in the neigh- bouring valley of Xaquixaguana. It was about five leagues distant, and the reader may remember it as the place where Francis Pizarro burned the Peru- vian general Challcuchima, on his first occupation of Cuzco. The valley, fenced round by the lofty rampart of the Andes, was, for the most part, green and luxuriant, affording many picturesque points of view ; and, from the genial temperature of the cli- mate, had been a favorite summer residence of the Indian nobles, many of whose pleasure-houses still dotted the sides of the mountains. A river, or rath- er stream, of no great volume, flowed through one end of this inclosure, and the ^neighbouring soil was so wet and mirj as to have the character of a morass. Here the rebel commander arrived, after a tedious march over roads not easily traversed by his train of heavy wagons and artillery. His forces amounted in all to about nine hundred men, with some half- of brilliant episode. This letter, sessed by the writers, are of the the original of which is preserved highest worth. The despatches in Simancas, covers about seventy addressed to the Court, particular- folio pages in the copy belonging ly, may compare with the cele- to me. It is one of that class of brated Relazioni made by the Ve- historical documents, consisting of netian ambassadors to their repub- the despatches and correspondence lie, and now happily in the course of the colonial governors, which, of publication, at Florence, under from the minuteness of the details the editorial auspices of the learned and the means of information pos- Alberi. 416 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boos V. dozen pieces of ordnance. It was a well-appointed body, and under excellent discipline, for it had been schooled by the strictest martinet in the Peruvian service. But it was the misfortune of Pizarro that his army was composed, in part, at least, of men on whose attachment to his cause he could not confi- dently rely. This was a deficiency which no cour- age nor skill in the leader could supply. On entering the valley, Pizarro selected the east- ern quarter of it, towards Cuzco, as the most fa- vorable spot for his encampment. It was crossed by the stream above mentioned, and he stationed his army in such a manner, that, while one extremity of the camp rested on a natural barrier formed by the mountain cliffs that here rose up almost per- pendicularly, the other was protected by the river. While it was scarcely possible, therefore, to assail his flanks, the approaches in front^ were so extreme- ly narrowed by these obstacles, that it would not be easy to overpower him by numbers in that direc- tion. In the rear, his communications remained open with Cuzco, furnishing a ready means for ob- taining supplies. Having secured this strong po- sition, he resolved patiently to wait the assault of the enemy.19 Meanwhile, the royal army had been toiling up the steep sides of the Cordilleras, until, at the close S. — Gar- Hist, de las Indias, cap. 185.- cilasso, Com.Real.,Parte2,iib. 5, Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, cap. 33, 34. — Pedro Pizarro, Des- 1, lib. 2, cap. 6S. cub. y Conq., MS. — Gomara, *.«• CH. III.] HE ENCAMPS NEAR THE CITY. 41? of the third day, the president had the satisfaction to find himself surrounded by his whole force, with their guns and military stores. Having now suf- ficiently refreshed his men, he resumed his march, and all went forward with the buoyant confidence of bringing their quarrel with the tyrant, as Pizarro was called, to a speedy issue. Their advance was slow, as in the previous part of the march, for the ground was equally embar- rassing. It was not long, however, before the pres- ident learned that his antagonist had pitched his camp in the neighbouring valley of Xaquixaguana. Soon afterward, two friars, sent by Gonzalo him- self, appeared in the army, for the ostensible pur- pose of demanding a sight of the powers with which Gasca was intrusted. But as their conduct gave reason to suspect they were spies, the president caused the holy men to be seized, and refused to allow them to return to Pizarro. By an emissary of his own, whom he despatched to the rebel chief, he renewed the assurance of pardon already given him, in case he would lay^ down his arms and submit. Such an act of generosity, at this late hour, must be allowed to be highly creditable to Gasca, believing, as he probably did, that the game was in his own hands. — It is a pity that the anec- dote does not rest on the best authority.5 20 20 The fact is not mentioned by cumstances, in Gomara (Hist, de any of the parties present at these las Indias, cap. 185) and Zarate transactions. It is to be found, (Conq. del Peru, lib. 7, cap. 6) ; with some little discrepancy of cir- and their positive testimony may VOL. II. 53 m 418 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BooK V. After a march of a couple of days, the advanced guard of the royalists came suddenly on the out- posts of the insurgents, from whom they had been concealed by a thick mist, and a slight skirmish took place between them. At length, on the morning of the eighth of April, the royal army, turning the crest of the lofty range that belts round the lovely valley of Xaquixaguana, beheld far below on the opposite side the glittering lines of the enemy, with their white pavilions, looking like clusters of wild fowl nestling among the cliffs of the mountains. And still further off might be descried a hostsof In- dian warriors, showing gaudily in their variegated costumes; for the natives, in this part of the coun- try, with little perception of their true interests, manifested great "zeal in the cause of Pizarro. Quickening their step, the royal army now hastily descended the steep sides of the sierra ; and notwith- standing every effort of their officers, they moved in so little order, each man picking his way as he could, that the straggling column presented many a vulnerable point to the enemy ; and the descent would not have been accomplished without consid- erable loss, had Pizarro's cannon been planted on any of the favorable positions which the ground af- forded. But that commander, far from attempting to check the president's approach, remained doggedly in the strong position he had occupied, with the full confidence that his adversaries would not hesitate to toe thought by most readers to the silence of other contempora- outweigh the negative afforded by ries. CH. III.] ROUT OF XAQUIXAGUANA. 419 assail it, strong as it was, in the same manner as they had done at Huarina.21 Yet he did not omit to detach a corps of arque- busiers to secure a neighbouring eminence or spur of the Cordilleras, which in the hands of the enemy might cause some annoyance to his own camp, while it commanded still more effectually the ground soon to be occupied by the assailants. But his manoeuvre was noticed by Hinojosa ; and he de- feated it by sending a stronger detachment of the royal musketeers, who repulsed the rebels, and, after a short skirmish, got possession of the heights. Gasca's general profited by this success to plant a small battery of cannon on the eminence, from which, although the distance was too great for him to do much execution, he threw some shot into the hostile camp. One ball, indeed, struck down two men, one of them Pizarro's page, killing a horse, at the same time, which he held by the bridle ; and the chief in- stantly ordered the tents to be struck, considering that they afforded too obvious a mark for the artillery.22 •i 21 " Sali6 a Xaquixaguana con Carta de Valdivia, MS. — Relacion toda su gente y alii nos aguardo en del Lie. Gasca, MS. un llano junto a un cerro alto por %* " Porq. muchas pelotas dieron donde bajabamos ; y cierto nuestro en medio de la gente, y una dellas Senor le cego el entendimiento, mato juto a Gonc_alo Pizarro vn porque si nos aguardaran al pie de criado suyo que se estaua armando : la bajada, hicieran mucho dafio a y mato otro hombre y vn cauallo : nosotros. Retiraronse a un llano que puso grande alteracion en el junto a una cienaga, creyendo que campo, y abatieron todas las tiedas nuestro campo alii les acometiera y toldos." Fernandez, Hist, del y con la ventaja que nos tenian Peru, Pafte 1, lib. 2, cap. 89. — del puesto nos vencieran." Pedro Carta de Valdivia, MS. — Relacion Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — del Lie. Gasca, MS. 420 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY [Booic V. ' Meanwhile, the president's forces had descended into the valley, and as they came on the plain were formed into line by their officers. The ground occupied by the army was somewhat lower than that of their enemy, whose shot, as discharged, from time to time, from his batteries, passed over their heads. Information was now brought by a deserter, one of Centeno's old followers, that Pizarro was getting ready for a night attack. The president, in consequence, commanded his whole force to be drawn up in battle array, pre- pared, at any instant, to repulse the assault. But if such were meditated by the insurgent chief, he abandoned it, — and, as it is said, from a distrust of the fidelity of some of the troops, who, under cover of the darkness, he feared, would go over to the opposite side. If this be true, he must have felt the full force of Carbajal's admonition, when too late to profit by it. The unfortunate command- er was in the situation of some bold, high-mettled cavalier, rushing to battle on a war-horse whose tottering joints threaten to give way under him at every step, and leave his rider to the mercy of his enemies ! The president's troops stood to their arms the greater part of the night, although the air from the mountains was so keen, that it was with difficulty they could hold their lances in their hands.23 But ^ . :;•.,.,*. ,,;«,*, ^4^^-£-s:r 23 " I asi estuvo el Campo toda que no podian tener las Langas eii la Noche en Arma, desarmadas las las manos." Zarate, Conq. del Tiendas, padesciendo mui gran frio Peru, lib. 7, cap. 6. CH. III.] ROUT OF XAQUIXAGUANA. 421 before the rising sun had kindled into a glow the highest peaks of the sierra, both camps were in motion, and busily engaged in preparations for the combat. The royal army was formed into two bat- talions of infantry, one to attack the enemy in front, and the other, if possible, to operate on his flank. These battalions were protected by squadrons of horse on the wings and in the rear, while reserves both of horse and arquebusiers were stationed to act as occasion might require. -The dispositions were made in so masterly a manner, as to draw forth a hearty eulogium from old Carbajal, who exclaimed, " Surely the Devil or Valdivia must be among them ! " an undeniable compliment to the latter, since the speaker was ignorant of that commander's presence in the camp.24 Gasca, leaving the conduct of the battle to his officers, withdrew to the rear with his train of cler- gy and licentiates, the last of whom did not share in the ambition of their rebel brother, Gepeda, to break a lance in the field. Gonzalo Pizarro formed his squadron in the same manner as he had done on the plains of Hua- rina ; except that the increased number of his horse now enabled him to cover both flanks of his 24 " Y assi quando vio Francisco Relacion del Lie. Gasca, MS. — de Caruajal el campo Real; pare- Carta de Valdivia, MS. — Gomara, ciendole que los esquadrones venian Hist, de las Indias, cap. 185. — bie ordenados dixo, Valdiuia esta Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 7, cap. en la tierra, y rige el campo, 6 el 6. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte diablo." Fernandez, Hist, del 2, lib. 5, cap. 34. — Pedro Pizarro, Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 89. — Descub. y Conq., MS. 422 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BOOK V, infantry. It was still on his fire-arms, however, that he chiefly relied. As the ranks were formed, he rode among them, encouraging his men to do their duty like brave cavaliers, and true soldiers of the Conquest. Pizarro was superbly armed, as usual, and wore a complete suit of mail, of the finest manufacture, which, as well as his helmet, was richly inlaid with gold.25 He rode a chestnut horse of great strength and spirit, and as he galloped along the line, brandishing his lance, and displaying his easy horsemanship, he might be thought to form no bad personification of the Genius of Chivalry. To complete his dispositions, he ordered Cepeda to lead up the infantry ; for the licentiate seems to have had a larger share in the conduct of his af- fairs of late, or at least in the present military ar- rangements, than Carbajal. The latter, indeed, whether from disgust at the course taken by his leader, or from a distrust, which, it is said, he did not affect to conceal, of the success of the present operations, disclaimed all responsibility for them, and chose to serve rather as a private cavalier than as a commander.26 Yet Cepeda, as the event show- 25 " Iba nrai galan, i grentil desdenado de que Gongalo Pizarro hombre sobre vn poderoso caballo no huuiesse queride seguir su pa- castafio, armado de Cota, i Cora- reeer y consejo (dandose ya por cinas ricas, con vna sobre ropa de vencido) , no quiso hazer oficio de Raso bien golpeada, i vn Capacete Maesse de campo, como solia, y de Oro en la cabeca, con su barbote assi fue a ponerse en el esquadron de lo mismo." Gomara, Hist, de con su compania, como vno de los las Indias, cap. 185. capitanes de ynfanteria." Garci- 26 " Porque el Maesse de campo lasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 5, Francisco de Caruajal, como hombre cap. 35. CH. III.] ROUT OF XAQUIXAGUANA. 423 ed, was no less shrewd in detecting the coming ruin. When he had received his orders from Pizarro, he rode forward as if to select the ground for his troops to occupy ; and in doing so disappeared for a few moments behind a projecting cliff. He soon reap- peared, however, and was seen galloping at full speed across the plain. His men looked with aston- ishment, yet not distrusting his motives, till, as he continued his course direct towards the enemy's lines, his treachery became apparent. Several pushed for- ward to overtake him, and among them a cavalier, better mounted than Cepeda. The latter rode a horse of no great strength or speed, quite unfit for this critical manoeuvre of his master. The animal, was, moreover, encumbered by the weight of the caparisons with which his ambitious rider had loaded him, so that, on reaching a piece of miry ground that lay between the armies, his pace was greatly retarded.27 Cepeda's pursuers rapidly gained on him, and the cavalier above noticed came, at length, so near as to throw a lance at the fugitive, which, wounding him in the thigh, pierced his horse's flank, and they both came headlong to the ground. It would have fared ill with the licentiate, in this emergency, but fortunately a small party of troopers on the other side, who had watched the chase, now galloped briskly forward to the rescue, and, beating off his pursuers, they recovered Cepeda from the mire, and bore him to the president's quarters. 27 Ibid., ubi supra. 424 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BooK V. He was received by Gasca with the greatest sat- isfaction, — so great, that, according to one chroni- cler, he did not disdain to show it by saluting the licentiate on the cheek.28 The anecdote is scarcely reconcilable with the characters and relations of the parties, or with the president's subsequent conduct. Gasca, however, recognized the full value of his prize, and the effect which his desertion at such a time must have on the spirits of the rebels. Cepe- da's movement, so unexpected - by his own party, was the result of previous deliberation, as he had secretly given assurance, it is said, to the prior of Arequipa, then in the royal camp, that, if Gonzalo Pizarro could not be induced to accept the pardon offered him-, he would renounce his cause.29 The time selected by the crafty counsellor for doing so was that most fatal to the interests of his com- mander. The example of Cepeda was contagious. Gar- cilasso de la Vega, father of the historian, a cava- lier of old family, and probably of higher considera- tion than any other in Pizarro's party, put spurs to his horse, at the same .time with the licentiate, and rode over to the enemy. Ten or a dozen of the arquebusiers followed in the same direction, and 28 " Gasca abra£6, i beso en el Castro, Prior de Santo Domingo en carrillo a Cepeda, annque lo lleva- Arequipa, que si Pi$arro no quisi- ba encenagado, teniendo por venci- esse concierto ninguno, el se pasa- do a Pizarro, con su falta." Go- ria al servicio del Emperador a mara, Hist, de las Indias, cap. 185. tiempo que le deshiciese." Ibid., 29 " Ca, segun parecio, Cepeda ubi supra, le huvo avisado con Fr. Antonio de CH. III.] ROUT OF XAQUIXAGUANA. 426 succeeded in placing themselves under the protec- tion of the advanced guard of the royalists. Pizarro stood aghast at this desertion, in so criti- cal a juncture, of those in whom he had most trust- ed. He was, for a moment, bewildered. The very ground on which he stood seemed to be crumbling beneath him. With this state of feeling among his soldiers, he saw that every minute of delay was fatal. He dared not wait for the assault, as he had intended, in his strong position, but instantly gave the word to advance. Gasca's general, Hinojosa, seeing the enemy in motion, gave similar orders to his own troops. Instantly the skirmishers and ar- quebusiers on the flanks moved rapidly forward, the artillery prepared to open their fire, and " the whole army," says the president in his own account of the affair, " advanced with steady step and perfect de- termination." 30 But before a shot was fired, a column of arque- busiers, composed chiejly of Centeno's followers, abandoned their post, and marched directly over to the enemy. A squadron of horse, sent in pursuit of them, followed their, example. The president in- stantly commanded his men to halt, unwilling to spill blood unnecessarily, as the rebel host was like to fall to pieces of itself. 30 " Visto por Gonzalo Pizarro se empezaron a llegar a ellos i a i Caravajal su Maestre de Campo disparar en ellos i que lo mesmo que se les iva gente procuraron de hizo la artilleria, i todo el campo caminar en su orden hacia el campo con paso bien concertado i entera de S. M. i que viendo esto los lados determinacion se llego a ellos.' i sobre salientes del exercito real Relacion del Lie. Gasca, MS. VOL. II. 54 426 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BOOK V. Pizarro's faithful adherents were seized with a panic, as they saw themselves and their leader thus betrayed into the enemy's hands. Further resist- ance was useless. Some threw down their arms, and fled in the direction of Cuzco. Others sought to escape to the mountains ; and some crossed to the opposite side, and surrendered themselves prisoners, hoping it was not too late to profit by the promises of grace. The Indian allies, on seeing the Span- iards falter, had been the first to go off the ground.31 Pizarro, amidst the general wreck, found himself left with only a few cavaliers who disdained to fly. Stunned by the unexpected reverse of fortune, the unhappy chief could hardly comprehend his situ- ation. " What remains for us ? " said he to Acosta, one of those who still adhered to him. " Fall on the enemy, since nothing else is left," answered the lion-hearted soldier, " and die like Romans ! " " Better to die like Christians," replied his com- mander ; and, slowly turning his horse, he rode off in the direction of the royal army.32 31 "Los Indies que tenian los — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 7, enemigos que diz que eran mucha cap. 7. — Herrera, Hist. General, cantidad huyeron mui a furia." dec. 8, lib. 4, cap. 16. (Relacion del Lie. Gasca, MS.) & " Gongalo Picarro boluiendo For the particulars of the battle, el rostro, a Juan de Acosta, que more or less minute, see Carta de estaua cerca del, le dixo, que hare Valdivia, MS. — Garcilasso, Com. mos hermano Juan? Acosta pre- ReaL, Parte 2, lib. 5, cap. 35. — sumiendo mas de valiente que de Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., discrete respondio, Sefior arreme- MS. — Gomara, Hist, de las* In- tamos, y muramos como los anti- dias, cap. 185. — Fernandez, Hist, guos Romanos. Gongalo Pi$arro del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 90. dixo mejor es morir como Cristia CH. III.] ROUT OF XAQUIXAGUANA. 427 He had not proceeded far, when he was met by an officer, to whom, after ascertaining his name and rank, Pizarro delivered up his sword, and yieldt I himself prisoner. The officer, overjoyed at Ls prize, conducted him, at once, to the president's quarters. Gasca was on horseback, surrounded by his captains, some of whom, when they recognized the person of the captive, had the grace to with- draw, that they might not witness his humiliation.33 Even the best of them, with a sense of right on their side, may have felt some touch of compunction at the thought that their desertion had brought their benefactor to this condition. Pizarro kept his seat in his saddle, but, as he ap- proached, made a respectful obeisance to the presi- dent, which the latter acknowledged by a cold sa- lute. Then, addressing his prisoner in a tone of severity, Gasca abruptly inquired, — " Why he had thrown the country into such confusion ; — raising the banner of revolt ; killing the viceroy ; usurping the government ; and obstinately refusing the offers of grace that had been repeatedly made him ? " Gonzalo attempted to justify himself by referring the fate of the viceroy to his misconduct, and his own usurpation, as it was styled, to the free election of the people, as well as that of the Royal Audience. " It was my family," he said, " who conquered the country ; and, as their representative here, I felt I nos." Garcilasso, Com. Real., ^ Garcilasso, Com. Real., ubi Parte 2, lib. 5, cap. 36. — Zarate, supra. Oonq. del Peru, lib. 7, cap. 7. 428 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BOOK V. had a right to the government." To this Gasca re- plied, in a still severer tone, "Your brother did, , ideed, conquer the land ; and for this the emperor u as pleased to raise both him and you from the dust. He lived and died a true and loyal subject; and it only makes your ingratitude to your sovereign the more heinous." Then, seeing his prisoner about to reply, the president cut short the conference, order- ing him into close confinement. He was committed to the charge of Centeno, who had sought the office, not from any unworthy desire to gratify his revenge, — for he seems to have had a generous nature, — but for the honorable purpose of ministering to the com- fort of the captive. Though held in strict custody by this officer, therefore, Pizarro was treated with the deference due to his rank, and allowed every indulgence by his keeper, except his freedom.34 In this general wreck of their fortunes, Francisco de Carbajal fared no better than his chief. As he saw the soldiers deserting their posts and going over to the enemy, one after another, he coolly hummed the words of his favorite old ballad, — " The wind blows the hairs off my \iead, mother ! " But when he found the field nearly empty, and his stout-hearted followers vanished like a wreath of smoke, he felt it was time to provide for his own 34 Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, Gomara, Hist, de las Indias, cap. Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 90. 185. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., Historians, of course, report the Parte 2, lib. 5, cap. 36. — Rela- dialogue between Gasca and his cion del Lie. Gasca, MS. prisoner with some variety. See CH. III.] ROUT OF XAQUIXAGUANA. 429 safety. He knew there could be no favor for him ; and, putting spurs to his horse, he betook himself to flight with all the speed he could make. He crossed the stream that flowed, as already mentioned, by the camp, but, in scaling the opposite bank, which was steep and stony, his horse, somewhat old, and op- pressed by the weight of his rider, who was large and corpulent, lost his footing and fell with him in- to the water. Before he could extricate himself, Carbajal was seized by some of his own followers, who hoped, by such a prize, to make their peace with the victor, and hurried off towards the presi- dent's quarters. The convoy was soon swelled by a number of the common file from the royal army, some of whom had long arrears to settle with the prisoner; and, not content with heaping reproaches and impreca- tions on his head, they now threatened to proceed to acts of personal violence, which Carbajal, far from deprecating, seemed rather to court, as the speediest way of ridding himself of life.35 When he approach- ed the president's quarters, Centeno, who was near, rebuked the disorderly rabble, and compelled them to give way. Carbajal, on seeing this, with a re- spectful air demanded to whom he was indebted for this courteous protection. To which his ancient comrade replied, " Do you not know me ? — Die 35 " Luego llevaron antel dicho ofendidas que le querian matar, el Licenciado Caravajal Maestre de qua! diz que mostrava que olgara campo del dicho Pizarro i tan cer- que le mataran alii." Relacion cado de gentes que del havian sido del Lie. Gasca, MS. 430 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boox V. go Centeno ! " " 1 crave your pardon," said the veteran, sarcastically alluding to his long flight in the Charcas, and his recent defeat at Huarina ; " it is so long since 1 have seen any thing but your back, that I had forgotten your face ! " 36 Among the president's suite was the martial bishop of Cuzco, who, it will be remembered, had shared with Centeno in the disgrace of his defeat. His brother had been taken by Carbajal, in his flight from the field, and instantly hung up by that fierce chief, who, as we have had more than one occasion to see, was no respecter of persons. The bishop now reproached him with his brother's murder, and, incensed by his cool replies, was ungenerous enough to strike the prisoner on the face. Carbajal made no attempt at resistance. Nor would he return a word to the queries put to him by Gasca ; but, looking haughtily round on the circle, maintained a contemptuous silence. The president, seeing that nothing further was to be gained from his captive, ordered him, together with Acosta, and the other cavaliers who had surrendered, into strict custody, until their fate should be decided.37 36 " Diego Centeno reprehendia niendo le de cara, no le conocia." mucho a los que le offendian. For Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, Parte lo qual Caruajal le mird, y le dixo, 1, lib. 2, cap. 90. Senor quien es vuestra merced que ^ Ibid., ubi supra, tanta merced me haze ? a lo qual It is but fair to state that Garci- Centeno respondio, Que no conoce lasso, who was personally acquaint- vuestra merced a Diego Centeno ? ed with the bishop of Cuzco, doubts Dixo entonces Caruajal, Por Dios the fact of the indecorous conduct sen or que como siempre vi a vuestra imputed to him by Fernandez, as merced de espaldas, que agora te- inconsistent with the prelate's char- CH. III.] ROUT OF XAQUIXAGUANA. 431 Gasca's next concern was to send an officer to Cuzco, to restrain his partisans from committing ex- cesses in consequence of the late victory, — if victo- ry that could be called, where not a blow had been struck. Every thing belonging to the vanquished, their tents, arms^ ammunition, and military stores, became the property of the victors. Their camp was well victualled, furnishing a seasonable supply to the royalists, who had nearly expended their own stock of provisions. There was, moreover, considerable booty in the way of plate and money ; for Pizarro's men, as was not uncommon in those turbulent times, went, many of them, to the war with the whole of their worldly wealth, not knowing of any safe place in which to bestow it. An anecdote is told of one of Gasca's soldiers, who, seeing a mule running over the field, with a large pack on his back, seized the animal, and mounted him, having first thrown away the burden, supposing it to contain armour, or some- thing of little worth. Another soldier, more shrewd, picked up the parcel, as his share of the spoil, and found it contained several thousand gold ducats! It was the fortune of war.38 Thus terminated the battle, or rather rout, of Xaquixaguana. The number of killed and wound- ed — for some few perished in the pursuit — was not great ; according to most accounts, not exceed- ing fifteen killed on the rebel side, and one only on that of the royalists ! and that one* by the careless- acter. Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. x Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, cap. 39. 7, cap. 8. 432 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boos V. ness of a comrade.39 Never was there a cheaper victory ; so bloodless a termination of a fierce and bloody rebellion ! It was gained not so much by the strength of the victors as by the weakness of the vanquished. They fell to pieces of their own accord, because they had no sure ground to stand on. The arm, not nerved by the sense of right, became powerless in the hour of battle. It was better that they should thus be overcome by moral force than by a brutal appeal to arms. Such a victory was more in harmony with the beneficent character of the conqueror and of his cause. It was the triumph of order ; the best homage to law and justice. 39 " Temiose que en esta batalla muriria mucha gente de ambas partes por haver en ellas mill i quatrocientos arcabuceros i seis- cientos de caballo i mucho numero de piqueros i diez i ocho piezas de artilleria, pero plugo a Dios que solo murio un hombre del campo de S. M. i quince de los contraries como esta dicho." Relacion del Lie. Gasca, MS. The MS. above referred to is supposed by Mufioz to have been written by Gasca, or rather dictated by him to his secretary. The original is preserved at Simancas, without date, and in the character of the sixteenth century. It is principally taken up with the battle, and the events immediately con- nected with it ; and although very brief, every sentence is of value as coming from so high a source. Alcedo, in his Biblioteca Ameri- cana, MS., gives the title of a work from Gasca's pen, which would seem to be an account of his own administration, Historia del Peru, y de su Pacification, 1576, fol. — I have never met with the work, or with any other allusion to it. CHAPTER IV. EXECUTION OF CARBAJAL. — GONZALO PIZARRO BEHEADED. — SPOILS OF VICTORY. — WISE REFORMS BY GASCA. — HE RETURNS TO SPAIN. — His DEATH AND CHARACTER. 1548—1550. IT was now necessary to decide on the fate of the prisoners ; and Alonso de Alvarado, with the Li- centiate Cianca, one of the new Royal Audience, was instructed to prepare the process. It did not require a long time. The guilt of the prisoners was too manifest, taken, as they had been, with arms in their hands. They were all sentenced to be executed, and their estates were confiscated to the use of the Crown. Gonzalo Pizarro was to be beheaded, and Carbajal to be drawn and quartered. No mercy was shown to him who had shown none to others. There was some talk of deferring the execution till the arrival of the troops in Cuzco ; but the fear of disturbances from those friendly to Pizarro determined the president to carry the sentence into effect the following day, on the field of battle.1 1 The sentence passed upon Pi- rian omitted it in his printed work ; zarro is given at length in the but the curious reader may find it manuscript copy of Zarate's His- entire, cited in the original, in tory, to which I have had occasion Appendix, No. 14. more than once to refer. The histo- VOL. II. 55 434 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BOOK V I * - .. ' When his doom was communicated to Carbajal, he heard it with his usual indifference. " They can but kill me," he said, as if he had already settled the matter in hrs own mind.2 During the day, many came to see him in his confinement ; some to upbraid him with his cruelties ; but most, from curiosity to see the fierce warrior who had made his name so terrible through the land. He showed no unwillingness to talk with them, though it was in those sallies of caustic humor in which he usually indulged at the expense of his hearer. Among these visiters was a cavalier of no note, whose life, it appears, Carbajal had formerly spared, when in his power. This person expressed to the prisoner his strong desire to serve him ; and as he reiterated his professions, Carbajal cut them short by exclaiming, — " And what service can you do me? Can you set me free ? If you cannot do that, you can do nothing. If I spared your life, as you say, it was probably because I did not think it worth while to take it." Some piously disposed persons urged him to see a priest, if it were only to unburden his conscience before leaving the world. " But of what use would that be ? " asked Carbajal. " I have nothing that lies heavy on my conscience, unless it be, indeed, the debt of half a real to a shopkeeper in Seville, which I forgot to pay before leaving the country! "3 f *S 'V "• 2 " Basta matar." Fernandez, 3 " En esso no tengo que con- Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, fessar : porque juro a tal, que no cap. 91. tengo otro cargo, si no medio real CH. IV.] EXECUTION OF CARBAJAL. •" <; ;" ,.,- '* jfcfc- *' He was carried to execution on a hurdle, or rather in a basket, drawn by two mules. His arms were pinioned, and, as they forced his bulky body into this miserable conveyance, he exclaimed, — " Cra- dles for infants, and a cradle for the old man too, it seems ! " 4 Notwithstanding the disinclination he had manifested to a confessor, he was attended by several ecclesiastics on his way to the gallows ; and one of them repeatedly urged him to give some token of penitence at this solemn hour, if it were only by repeating the Pater Noster and Ave Maria. Carbajal, to rid himself of the ghostly father's importunity, replied by coolly repeating the words, " Pater Noster," "Ave Maria " ! He then remained obstinately silent. He died, as he had lived, with a jest, or rather a scoff, upon his lips.5 Francisco de Carbajal was one of the most extra- ordinary characters of these dark and turbulent times ; the more extraordinary from his great age .; for, at the period of his -death, he was in his eighty- fourth year ; — an age when the bodily powers, and, fortunately, the passions, are usually blunted ; when, in the witty words of the French moralist, "We flat- ter ourselves we are leaving our vices, whereas it que deuo en Seuilla a vna bodego- mas a la ppstrer vez que me hab!6 nera de la puerta del Arenal, del llevandole a matar le decia el sa- tiempo que passe a Indias." Ibid., cerdote que con e*l iba, quo se en- ubi supra. comendase a Dios y dijese el Pater 4 " Nino en cuna, y viejo en Noster y el Ave Maria, y diceh cuna." Ibid., loc. cit. que dijo Pater Noster, Ave Maria, . 5 " Murio como gentil, porque y que no dijo otra palabra." Pe- dicen, que yo no le quise ver, que dro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq. ansi le di la palabra de no velle ; MS. 436 SETTLEMENT OF 1HE COUNTRY. [Boo* V. is our vices that are leaving us." 6 But the fires of youth glowed fierce and unquenchable in the bosom of Carbajal. The date of his birth carries us back towards the middle of the fifteenth century, before the times of Ferdinand and Isabella. He was of obscure parent age, and born, as it is said, at Arevalo. For forty years he served in the Italian wars, under the most illustrious captains of the day, Gonsalvb de Cor dova, Navarro, and the Colonnas. He was an en- sign at the battle of Ravenna; witnessed the cap ture of Francis the First at Pavia ; and followed the banner of the ill-starred Bourbon at the sack of Rome. He got no gold for his share of the booty, on this occasion, but simply the papers of a notary's office, which, Carbajal shrewdly thought, would be worth gold to him. And so it proved ; for the no- tary was fain to redeem them at a price which ena- bled the adventurer to cross the seas to Mexico, and seek his fortune in the New World. On the insur- rection of the Peruvians, he was sent to the support of Francis Pizarro, and was rewarded by that chief with a grant of land in Cuzco. Here he remained for several years, busily employed in increasing his substance ; for the love of lucre was a ruling passion in his bosom. On the arrival of Vaca de Castro, we find him doing good service under the royal banner ; and at the breaking out of the great 6 I quote from memory, but be- wisdom, The Characters of La lieve the. reflection may be found in Bruy&re. that admirable digest of worldly CH. IV.] EXECUTION OF CARBAJAL. 437 rebellion under Gonzalo Pizarro, he converted his property into gold, and prepared to return to Cas- tile. He seemed to have a presentiment that to remain where he was would be fatal. But, al- though he made every effort to leave Peru, he was unsuccessful, for the viceroy had laid an embargo on the shipping.7 He remained in the country, therefore, and took service, as we have seen, though reluctantly, under Pizarro. It was his destiny. The tumultuous life on which he now entered roused all the slumbering passions of his soul, which lay there, perhaps unconsciously to himself; cruelty, avarice, revenge. He found ample exercise for them in the war with his countrymen ; for civil war is proverbially the most sanguinary and ferocious of all. The atrocities recorded of Garbajal, in his new ca- reer, and the number of his victims, are scarcely credible. For the honor of humanity, we may trust the accounts are greatly exaggerated ; but that he should have given rise to them at all is sufficient to consign his name to infamy.8 He even took a diabolical pleasure, it is said, in 7 Pedro Pizarro bears testimony doom of the prisoners who fell to Carbajal's endeavours to leave into his hands, the country, in which he was aided, 8 Out of three hundred and forty though ineffectually, by the chroni- executions, according to Fernan- cler, who was, at that time, in dez, three hundred were by Car- the most friendly relations with bajal. (Hist, del Peru, Parte 1, him. Civil war parted these an- lib. 2, cap. 91.) Zarate swells cient comrades ; but Carbajal did the number of these executions to not forget his obligations to Pedro five hundred. (Conq. del Peru, Pizarro, which he afterwards re- lib. 7, cap. 1.) The discrepancy paid by exempting him on two shows how little we can confide in different occasions from the general the accuracy of such estimates. 438 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boon V. '«*, amusing himself with the sufferings of his victims, and in the hour of execution would give utterance to frightful jests, that made them taste more keenly the bitterness of death ! He had a sportive vein, if such it could be called, which he freely indulged on every occasion. Many of his sallies were preserved by the soldiery ; but they are, for the most part, of a coarse, repulsive character, flowing from a mind familiar with the weak and wicked side of hu- manity, and distrusting every other. He had his jest for every thing, — for the misfortunes of others, and for his own. He looked on life as a farce, — though he too often made it a tragedy. Carbajal must be allowed one virtue ; that of fidelity to his party. This made him less tolerant of perfidy in others. He was never known to show mercy to a renegade. This undeviating fidelity, though to a bad cause, may challenge something like a feeling of respect, where fidelity was so rare.9 As a military man, Carbajal takes a high rank among the soldiers of the New World. He was strict, even severe, in enforcing discipline, so that he 9 Fidelity, indeed, is but one of doubtless, to his father's position many virtues claimed for Carbajal in the rebel army, he has well by Garcilasso, who considers most repaid by depicting their portraits of the tales of cruelty and avarice in the favorable colors in which circulated of the veteran, as well they appeared to his young imagi- as the hardened levity imputed to nation. But the garrulous old man him in his latter moments, as in- has recorded several individual in- ventions of his enemies. The Inca stances of atrocity in the , career chronicler was a boy when Gon- of Carbajal, which form but an zalo and his chivalry occupied indifferent commentary on the cor- Cuzco ; and the kind treatment he rectness of his general assertions experienced from them, owing, in respect to his character. LH. IV.] GONZALO PIZARRO BEHEADED. 439 was little loved by his followers. Whether he had the genius for military combinations requisite for conducting war on an extended scale may be doubted ; but in the shifts and turns of guerilla warfare he was unrivalled. Prompt, active, and persevering, he was insensible to danger or fatigue, and, after days spent in the saddle, seemed to attach little value to the luxury of a bed.10 He knew familiarly every mountain pass, and, such were the sagacity and the resources displayed in his roving expeditions, that he was vulgarly be- lieved to be attended by a familiar.11 With a character so extraordinary, with powers prolonged so far beyond the usual term of humanity, and passions so fierce in one tottering on the verge of the grave, it was not surprising that many fabulous stories should be eagerly circulated respecting him, and that Carbajal should be clothed with myste- rious terrors as a sort of supernatural being, — the demon of the Andes ! Very different were the circumstances attending the closing scene of Gonzalo Pizarro. At his re- 10 « pue jnaior sufridor de tra- have entertained feelings not un- bajos, que requeria su edad, porque friendly to Carbajal, thus sums up a maravilla se quitaba las Armas his character in a few words, de Dia, ni de Noche, i quando era " Era mui lenguaz : hablaba muy necesario, tampoco se acostaba, ni discreptamente y a gusto de los dormia mas de quanto recostado en que le oian : era hombre sagaz, vna Silla, se le cansaba la mano cruel, bien entendido en la guerra. en que arrimaba la Cabe§a." Za- Este Carbajal era tan sabio rate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, cap. que decian tenia familiar." Des 14. cub. y Conq., MS. 11 Pedro Pizarro, who seems to '440 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BooK V. quest, no one had been allowed to visit him in his confinement. He was heard pacing his tent during the greater part of the day, and when night came, having ascertained from Centeno that his execution was to take place on the following noon, he laid himself down to rest. He did not sleep long, how- ever, but soon rose, and continued to traverse his apartment, as if buried in meditation, till dawn. He then sent for a confessor, and remained with him till after the hour of noon, taking little or no refreshment. The officers of justice became im- patient ; but their eagerness was sternly rebuked by the soldiery, many of whom, having served under Gonzalo's banner, were touched with pity for his misfortunes. When the chieftain came forth to execution, he showed in his dress the same love of magnificence and display as in happier days. Over his doublet he wore a superb cloak of yellow velvet, stiff with gold embroidery, while his head was protected by a cap' of the same materials, richly decorated, in like manner, with ornaments of gold.12 In this gaudy attire he mounted his mule, and the sentence was so far relaxed that his arms were suffered to remain unshackled. He was escorted by a goodly number of priests and friars, who held up the crucifix before his eyes, while he carried in his own hand an image 12 " Al tiempo que lo mataron, toda cubierta de Chaperia de Oro, di6 al Verdugo toda la Ropa, que i vn Chapeo de la misma forma." traia que era mui rica, i de mucho Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 7, valor, porque tenia vna Ropa de cap. 8. Armas de Terciopelo amarillo, casi CH. IV.] GONZALO PIZARRO BEHEADED. 441 of the Virgin. She had ever been the peculiar ob- ject of Pizarro's devotion ; so much so, that those who knew him best in the hour of his prosperity were careful, when they had a petition, to prefer it in the name of the blessed Mary. Pizarro's lips were frequently pressed to the em- blem of his divinity, while his eyes were bent on the crucifix in apparent devotion, heedless of the objects around him. On reaching the scaffold, he ascended it with a firm step, and asked leave to a& dress a few words to the soldiery gathered round it. " There are many among you," said he, " who have grown rich on my brother's bounty, and my own. Yet, of all my riches, nothing remains to me but the garments I have on ; and even these are not mine, but the property of the executioner. I am without means, therefore, to purchase a mass for the welfare of my soul ; and I implore you, by the re- membrance of past benefits, to extend this charity to me when I am gone, that it may be well with you in the hour of death." A profound silence reigned throughout the martial multitude, broken only by sighs and groans, as they listened to Pizarro's re- quest ; and it was faithfully responded to, since, after his death, masses were said in many of the towns for the welfare of the departed chieftain. Then, kneeling down before a crucifix placed on a table, Pizarro remained for some minutes absorbed in prayer; after which, addressing the soldier who was to act as the minister of justice, he calmly bade him "do his duty with a steady hand." He refused VOL. II. 56 442 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boox V. to have his eyes bandaged, and, bending forward his neck, submitted it to the sword qf the executioner, who struck off the head with a single blow, so true that the body remained for some moments in the same erect posture as in life.13 The head was taken to Lima, where it was set in a cage or frame, and then fixed on a gibbet by the side of CarbajaPs. On it was placed a label, bearing, — " This is the head of the traitor Gonzalo Pizarro, who rebelled in Peru against his sovereign, and battled in the cause of tyranny and treason against the royal stand- ard in the valley of Xaquixaguana."14 His large estates, including the rich mines in Potosi, were confiscated ; his mansion in Lima was razed to the ground, the place strewed with salt, and a stone pillar set up, with an inscription interdicting any one from building on a spot which had been pro- faned by the residence of a traitor. Gonzalo's remains were not exposed to the indig- nities inflicted on Carbajal's, whose quarters were hung in chains on the four great roads leading to Cuzco. Centeno saved Pizarro's body from being 13 « The executioner," says 14 " Esta es la cabeza del trai- Garcilasso, with a simile more ex- dor de Gonzalo Pizarro que se hizo pressive than elegant, " did his justicia del en el valle de Aquixa- work as cleanly as if he had been guana, donde dio la batalla campal slicing off a head of lettuce ! " contra el estandarte real queriendo " De vn reues le cortd la cabega defender su traicion e tirania : nin- con tanta facilidad, como si fuera guno sea osado de la quitar de vna hoja de lechuga, y se qued6 aqui so pena de muerte natural." con ella en la mano, y tardo el Zarate, MS. cuerpo algun espacio en caer en el suelo." Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 3, lib. 5, cap. 43. CH. IV.] GONZALO PIZARRO BEHEADED. 443 stripped, by redeeming his costly raiment from the executioner, and in this sumptuous shroud it was laid in the chapel of the convent of Our Lady of Mercy in Cuzco. It was the same spot where, side by side, lay the bloody remains of the Almagros, father and son, who in like manner had perished by the hand of justice, and were indebted to private charity for their burial. All these were now con- signed "to the same grave," says the historian, with some bitterness, "as if Peru could not afford land enough for a burial-place to its conquerors." 15 Gonzalo Pizarro had reached only his forty-second year at the time of his death, — being just half the space allotted to his follower Carbajal. He was the youngest of the remarkable family to whom Spain was indebted for the acquisition of Peru. He came over to the country with his brother Fran- cisco, on the return of the latter from his visit to Castile. Gonzalo was present in all the remarkable passages of the Conquest. He witnessed the seiz- ure of Atahuallpa, took an active part in suppressing the insurrection of the Incas, and especially in the reduction of Charcas. He afterwards led the disas- trous expedition to the Amazon ; and, finally, head- 15 " Y las sepolturas vna sola MS. de Caravantes. — Pedro Pi- auiendo de ser tres: que aim la- zarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — tierra parece que les falto para auer Gomara, Hist.de las Indias, cap. los de cubrir." Garcilasso, Com. 186. — Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, Real., Parte 2, lib. 5, cap. 43. Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 91. — Zarate, For the tragic particulars of the Conq. del Peru, lib. 7, cap. 8. — preceding pages, see Ibid., cap. Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 8, 39_43. — Relacion del Lie. Gasca, lib. 4, cap. 16. MS. — Carta de Yaldivia, MS. — 444 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boos V ed the memorable rebellion which ended so fatally to himself. There are but few men whose lives abound in such wild and romantic adventure, and, for the most part, crowned with success. The space which he occupies in the page of history is altogether disproportioned to his talents. It may be in some measure ascribed to fortune, but still more to those showy qualities which form a sort of substitute for mental talent, and which secured his popularity with the vulgar. He had a brilliant exterior ; excelled in all martial exercises ; rode well, fenced well, managed his lance to perfection, was a first-rate marksman with the arquebuse, and added the accomplishment of being an excellent draughtsman. He was bold and chival- rous, even to temerity ; courted adventure, and was always in the front of danger. He was a knight- errant, in short, in the most extravagant sense of the term, and, " mounted on his favorite charger," says one who had often seen him, " made no more account of a squadron of Indians than of a swarm of flies." 16 While thus, by his brilliant exploits and showy manners, he captivated the imaginations of his coun- trymen, he won their hearts no less by his soldier- like frankness, his trust in their fidelity, — too often abused, — and his liberal largesses ; for Pizarro, though avaricious of the property of others, was, J6 '< Quando Gon§alo Pizarro, drones de Yndios, que si fueran de que ay a gloria, se veya en su zay- moscas." Garcilasso, Parte 2, lib. nillo, no hazia mas caso de esqua- 5, cap. 43. CH. IV.] GONZALO PIZARRO BEHEADED. 445 like the Roman conspirator, prodigal of his own. This was his portrait in happier days, when his heart had not been corrupted by success ; for that some change was wrought on him by his prosperity is well attested. His head was made giddy by his elevation ; and it is proof of a want of talent equal to his success, that he knew not how to profit by it. Obeying the dictates of his own rash judgment, he rejected the warnings of his wisest counsellors, and relied with blind confidence on his destiny. Garci- lasso imputes this to the malignant influence of the stars.17 But the superstitious chronicler might have better explained it by a common principle of human nature ; by the presumption nourished by success ; the insanity, as the Roman, or rather Grecian, prov- erb calls it, with which the gods afflict men when they design to ruin them.18 Gonzalo was without education, except such as he had picked up in the rough school of war. He had little even of that wisdom which springs from natural shrewdness and insight into character. In all this he was inferior to his elder brothers, although he fully equalled them in ambition. Had he pos- sessed a tithe of their sagacity, he would not have madly persisted in rebellion, after the coming of the oresident. Before this period, he represented the i7 " Dezian que no era falta de Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, entendimiento, pues lo teniabastan- lib. 5, cap. 33. te, sino que deuia de ser sobra de 18 ""Orai/fie Aaipuv dvSpl iropo v~ influeneia de signos y planetas, que yrj /ca/ca, le cegauan y forcauan a que pu- Tbv vovv e/SXa^e irp&Tov. " fiiesse la garganta al cuchillo*" Eurip. Fragmenta. 446 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boox V. people. Their interests and his were united. He had their support, for he was contending for the re- dress of their wrongs. When these were redressed by the government, there was nothing to contend for. From that time, he was battling only for himself. The people had no part nor interest in the contest. Without a common sympathy to bind them together, was it strange that they should fall off from him, like leaves in winter, and leave him exposed, a bare and sapless trunk, to the fury of the tempest ? Cepeda, more criminal than Pizarro, since he had both superior education and intelligence, which he employed only to mislead his commander, did not long survive him. He had come to the country in an office of high responsibility* His first step was to betray the viceroy whom he was sent to support ; his next was to betray the Audience with whom he should have acted ; and lastly, he betrayed the lead- er whom he most affected to serve. His whole career was treachery to his own government. His life was one long perfidy. After his surrender, several of the cavaliers, dis- gusted at his cold-blooded apostasy, would have persuaded Gasca to send him to execution along with his commander ; but the president refused, in consideration of the signal service he had rendered the Crown by his defection. He was put under arrest, however, and sent to Castile. There he was arraigned for high-treason. He made a plausible defence, and as he had friends at court, it is not improbable he would have been acquitted; but, CH. IV.] GONZALO PIZARRO BEHEADED 447 before the trial was terminated, he died in prison. It was the retributive justice not always to be found in the affairs of this world.19 Indeed, it so happened, that several of those who had been most forward to abandon the cause of Pizarro survived their commander but a short time. The gallant Centeno, and the Licentiate Carbajal, who deserted him near Lima, and bore the royal standard on the field of Xaquixaguana, both died within a year after Pizarro. Hinojosa was assassinated but two years later in La Plata ; and his old comrade Valdivia, after a series of bril- liant exploits in Chili, which furnished her most glo- rious theme to the epic Muse of Castile, was cut off by the invincible warriors of Arauco. The Manes of Pizarro were amply avenged. Acosta, and three or four other cavaliers who sur- rendered with Gonzalo, were sent to execution on the same day with their chief ; and Gasca, on the morning following the dismal tragedy, broke up his quarters and marched with his whole army to Cuzco, where he was received by the politic people with the same enthusiasm which they had so re- cently shown to his rival. He found there a num- ber of the rebel army who had taken refuge in the city after their late defeat, where they were *„ :* 'V'j ' ! , » ,f{ '';..;' :«'.! 1 : *i"ii*a,I *:ii 19 The cunning lawyer prepared from the perusal of it with an so plausible an argument in his entire conviction of the writer's own justification, that Yllescas, the innocence, ancf of his unshaken celebrated historian of the Popes, loyalty to the Crown. See the declares that no one who read the passage quoted by Garcilasso, paper attentively, but must rise Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 6, cap. 10. 448 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BooK V. immediately placed under arrest. Proceedings, by Gasca's command, were instituted against them. The principal cavaliers, to the number of ten or twelve, were executed ; others were banished or sent to the galleys. The same rigorous decrees were pass- ed against such as had fled and were not, yet taken; and the estates of all were confiscated. The estates of the rebels supplied a fund for the recompense of the loyal.20 The execution of justice may seem to have been severe ; but Gasca was willing that the rod should fall heavily on those who had so often re- jected his proffers of grace. Lenity was wasted on a rude, licentious soldiery, who hardly recognized the existence of government, unless they felt its rigor. A new duty now devolved on the president, — that of rewarding his faithful followers, — not less difficult, as it proved, than that of punishing the guilty. The applicants were numerous; since every pne who had raised a finger in behalf of the gov- ernment claimed his reward. They urged their de- mands with a clamorous importunity which per- plexed the good president, and consumed every moment of his time. Disgusted with this unprofitable state of things, Gasca resolved to rid himself of the annoyance at once, by retiring to the valley of Guaynarima, about twelve leagues distant from the city, and there di- gesting, in quiet, a scheme of compensation, adjust- U ',*• 'i -" - «-5* i '.i- .'-» '*.'•: > ao Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y — Carta de Valdivia, MS.— Za- Conq., MS. — Fernandez, Hist, rate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 7, cap. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 91. 8. — Relacion del Lie. Gasca, MS. CH. IV.] SPOILS OF VICTORY. 449 ed to the merits of the parties. He was accompa- nied only by his secretary, and by Loaysa, now archbishop of Lima, a man of sense, and well acquainted with the affairs of the country. In this seclusion the president remained three months, making a careful examination into the conflicting claims, and apportioning the forfeitures among the parties according to their respective services. The repartimientos, it should be remarked, were usually granted only for life, and, on the death of the in- cumbent, reverted to the Crown, to be reassigned or retained at its pleasure. When his arduous task was completed, Gasca de- termined to withdraw to Lima, leaving the instru- ment of partition with the archbishop, to be com- municated to the army. Notwithstanding all the care that had been taken for an equitable adjust- ment, Gasca was aware that it was impossible to satisfy the demands of a jealous and irritable sol- diery, where each man would be likely to exag- gerate his own deserts, while he underrated those of his comrades ; and he did not care to expose himself to importunities and complaints that could serve no other purpose than to annoy him. On his departure, the troops were called together by the archbishop in the cathedral, to learn the con- tents of the schedule intrusted to him. A discourse was first preached by a worthy Dominican, the prior of Arequipa, in which the reverend father ex- patiated on the virtue of contentment, the duty of obedience, and the folly, as well as wickedness, of VOL. II. 57 460 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BOOK V. an attempt to resist the constituted authorities, — topics, in short, which he conceived might best conciliate the good-will and conformity of his au- dience. A letter from the president was then read from the pulpit. It was addressed to the officers and sol- diers of the army. The writer began with briefly exposing the difficulties of his task, owing to the limited amount of the gratuities, and the great num- ber and services of the claimants. He had given the matter the most careful consideration, he said, and endeavoured to assign to each his share, accord- ing to his deserts, without prejudice or partiality. He had, no doubt, fallen into errors, but he trusted his followers would excuse them, when they reflect- ed that he had done according to the best of his poor abilities ; and all, he believed, would do him the justice to acknowledge he had not been in- fluenced by motives of personal interest. He bore emphatic testimony to the services they had ren- dered to the good cause, and concluded with the most affectionate wishes for their future prosperity and happiness. The letter was dated at Guayna- rima, August 17, 1548, and bore the simple signa- ture of the Licentiate Gasca.21 The archbishop next read the paper containing the president's award. The annual rent of the estates to be distributed amounted to a hundred and thirty 21 MS. de Caravantes. — Pedro cap. 9. — ^Fernandez, Hist, de) Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 92. Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 7, CH. IV.] SPOILS OF VICTORY. 451 thousand pesos ensayados;22 a large amount, con- sidering the worth of money in that day, — in any other country than Peru, where money was a drug.23 The repartimientos thus distributed varied in value from one hundred to thirty-five hundred pesos of yearly rent ; all, apparently, graduated with the 22 The peso ensayado, according to Garcilasso, was one fifth more in value than the Castilian ducat. Com. Real., Parte2,lib. 6, cap. 3. 23 " Entre los cavalleros capi- tanes y soldados que le ayudaron en esta ocasion repartio el Presidente Pedro de la Gasca 135,000 pesos ensayados de renta que estaban vacos, y no un millon y tantos mil pesos, como dize Diego Fernandez, que escrivio en Palencia estas al- teraciones, y de quien lo tomo An- tonio de Herrera: y porque esta ocasion fue la segunda en que los benemeritos del Piru fundan con razon los servicios de sus pasados, porque mediante esta batalla ase- guro la corona de Castilla las pro- vincias mas ricas que tiene en America, pondre sus nombres para que se conserbe con certeza su memoria como pareze en el auto original que proveyo en el asiento de Guainarima cerca de la ciudad del Cuzco en diez y siete de Agosto de 1548, que esta en los archives del govierno." MS. de Caravan- tes. The sum mentioned in the text, as thus divided among the army, falls very far short of the amount stated by Garcilasso, Fernandez, Zarate, and, indeed, every other writer on the subject, none of whom estimate it at less than a million of pesos. But Caravantes, from whom I have taken it, copies the original act of partition preserv- ed in the royal archives. Yet Gar- cilasso de la Vega ought to have been well informed of the value of these estates, which, accord- ing to him, far exceeded the esti- mate given in the schedule. Thus, for instance, Hinojosa, he says, obtained from the share of lands and rich mines assigned to him from the property of Gonzalo Pizarro no less than 200,000 pesos annu- ally, while Aldana, the Licentiate Carbajal, and others, had estates which yielded them from 10,000 to 50,000 pesos. (Ibid., ubi supra.) It is impossible to reconcile these monstrous discrepancies. No sum seems te have been too large for the credulity of the ancient chroni- cler ; and the imagination of the reader is so completely bewildered by the actual riches of this El Dorado, that it is difficult to adjust his faith by any standard of proba- bility. 452 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boo* V. nicest precision to the merits of the parties. The number of pensioners was about two hundred and fifty ; for the fund would not have sufficed for general distribution, nor were the services of the greater part deemed worthy of such a mark of con- sideration.24 The effect produced by the document, on men whose minds were filled with the most indefinite ex- pectations, was just such as had been anticipated by the president. It was received with a general mur- mur of disapprobation. Even those who had got more than they expected were discontented, on com- paring their condition with that of their comrades, whom they thought still better remunerated in pro- portion to their deserts. They especially inveighed against the preference shown to the old partisans of Gonzalo Pizarro — as Hinojosa, Centeno, and Al- dana — • over those who had always remained loyal to the Crown. There was some ground for such a pref- erence ; for none had rendered so essential services in crushing the rebellion; and it was these services that Gasca proposed to recompense. To reward every man who had proved himself loyal, simply for his loyalty, would have frittered away the donative into fractions that would be of little value to any.25 24 Caravantes has transcribed on them the hands of the rich from the original act a full cata- widows of the cavaliers who had logue of the pensioners, with the perished in the war. The inclina- amount of the sums set against tions of the ladies do not seem to each of their names. have been always consulted in this 25 The president found an in- politic arrangement. See Garci- genious way of remunerating sev- lasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 6, eral of his followers, by bestowing cap. 3. CH. IV.] SPOILS OF VICTORY. 453 It was in vain, however, that the archbishop, sec- onded by some of the principal cavaliers, endeav- oured to infuse a more contented spirit into the multitude. They insisted that the award should be rescinded, and a new one made on more equitable principles ; threatening, moreover, that, if this were not done by the president, they would take the re- dress of the matter into their own hands. Their discontent, fomented by some mischievous persons who thought to find their account in it, at length proceeded so far as to menace a mutiny; and it was not suppressed till the commander of Cuzco sentenced one of the ringleaders to death, and sev- eral others to banishment. The iron soldiery of the Conquest required an iron hand to rule them. Meanwhile, the president had continued his jour- ney towards Lima; and on the way was every- where received by the people with an enthusiasm, the more grateful to his heart that he felt he had deserved it. As he drew near the capital, the loyal inhabitants prepared to give him a magnificent re- ception. The whole population came forth from the gates, led by the authorities of the city, with Alda- na as corregidor at their head. Gasca rode on a mule, dressed in his ecclesiastical robes. On his right, borne on a horse richly caparisoned, was the royal seal, in a box curiously chased and orna- mented. A gorgeous canopy of brocade was sup- ported above his head by the officers of the munici- pality, who, in their robes of crimson velvet, walked bareheaded by his side. Gay troops of dancers, 454 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boon: V clothed in fantastic dresses of gaudy-colored silk, followed the procession, strewing flowers and chant- ing verses as they went, in honor of the president. They were designed as emblematical of the different cities of the colony ; and they bore legends or mot- toes in rhyme on their caps, intimating their loyal devotion to the Crown, and evincing much more loyalty in their composition, it may be added, than poetical merit.26 In this way, without beat of drum, or noise of artillery, or any of the rude accompani- ments of war, the good president made his peaceful entry into the City of the Kings, while the air was rent with the acclamations of the people, who hailed him as their " Father and Deliverer, the Saviour of their country ! " 27 But, however grateful was this homage to Gasca's heart, he was not a man to waste his time in idle vanities. He now thought only by what means he could eradicate the seeds of disorder which shot up so readily in this fruitful soil, and how he could place the authority of the government on a permanent basis. By virtue of his office, he presided over the Royal Audience, the great judicial, and, indeed, executive tribunal of the colony ; and he gave great 96 Fernandez has collected these Puehlo, por verse libre de Tiranos ; flowers of colonial poesy, which i toda la Gente, a voces, bendecia prove that the old Conquerors were al Presidente, i le llamaban : Pa- much more expert with the sword dre, Restaurador, i Paeificador, than with the pen. Hist, del Peru, dando gracias a Dios, por haver Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 93. vengado las injurias hechas a su 27 " Fue recibimiento mui so- DivinaMagestad." Herrera, Hist, lemne, con universal alegria del General, dec. 8, lib. 4, cap. 17. CH. IV.] WISE REFORMS BY GASCA. 455 despatch to the business, which had much accumu- lated during the late disturbances. In the unsettled state of property, there was abundant subject for litigation ; but, fortunately, the new Audience was composed of able, upright judges, who labored dili- gently with their chief to correct the mischief caused by the misrule of their predecessors Neither was Gasca unmindful of the unfortunate natives ; and he occupied himself earnestly with that difficult problem, — the best means practicable of ameliorating their condition. He sent a number of commissioners, as visitors, into different parts of the country, whose business it was to inspect the enco- miendas, and ascertain the manner in which the Indians were treated, by conversing not only with the proprietors, but with the natives themselves. They were also to learn the nature and extent of the tributes paid in former times by the vassals of the Incas.28 In this way, a large amount of valuable informa- tion was obtained, which enabled Gasca, with the aid of a council of ecclesiastics and jurists, to di- gest a uniform system of taxation for the natives, lighter even than that imposed on them by the Pe- 28 " El Presidents Gasca mando comete semejante negocio despues visitar todas las provincias y repar- que sea Cristiana : lo segundo se timientos deste reyno, norabrando les dio instruccion de lo que hauian para ello personas de autoridad y de averiguar, que fueron muchas de quien se tenia entendido que cosas : el numero, las haciendas, tenian conoscimiento de la tierra lostratos ygrangerias,lacalidadde que se les encargavan, que ha de la gente y de sus tierras y comarca, ser la principal calidad, que se ha y lo que davan de tribute." Onde- buscar en la persona, a quien se gardo, Rel. Prim., MS. 456 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [Boo* V. ,.'•;'• •' :i\ •; ruvian princes. The president would gladly have relieved the conquered races from the obligations of personal service ; but, on mature consideration, this was judged impracticable in the present state of the country, since the colonists, more especially in the tropical regions, looked to the natives for the per- formance of labor, and the latter, it was found from experience, would not work at all, unless compelled to do so. The president, however, limited the amount of service to be exacted with great precis- ion, so that it was in the nature of a moderate per- sonal tax. No Peruvian was to be required to change his place of residence, from the climate to which he had been accustomed, to another ; a fruitful source of discomfort, as well as of disease, in past times. By these various regulations, the condition of the natives, though not such as had been contemplated by the sanguine philanthropy of Las Casas, was improved far more than was com- patible with the craving demands of the colonists ; and all the firmness of the Audience was required to enforce provisions so unpalatable to the latter. Still they were enforced. Slavery, in its most odi- ous sense, was no longer tolerated in Peru. The term " slave " was not recognized as having rela- tion to her institutions ; and the historian of the Indies makes the proud boast, — it should have been qualified by the limitations I have noticed, — that every Indian vassal might aspire to the rank of a freeman.29 29 " El Presidente, i el Audiencia dieron tales ordenes, que este CH. IV.] WISE REFORMS BY GASCA. 45? Besides these reforms, Gasca introduced several in the municipal government of the cities, and oth- ers yet more important in the management of the finances, and in the mode of keeping the accounts. By these and other changes in the internal econo- my of the colony, he placed the- administration on a new basis, and greatly facilitated the way for a more sure and orderly government by his successors. As a final step, to secure the repose of the country after he was gone, he detached some of the more aspiring cavaliers on distant expeditions, trusting that they would draw off. the light and restless spirits, who might otherwise gather together and disturb the public tranquillity ; as we sometimes see the mists which have been scattered by the genial influence of the sun become condensed, and settle into a storm, on his departure.30 Gasca had been now more than fifteen months in Lima, and nearly three years had elapsed since his first entrance into Peru. In that time, he had ac- complished the great objects of his mission. When he landed, he found the colony in a state of anarchy, or rather organized rebellion under a powerful and popular chief. He came without funds or forces to support him. The former he procured through the credit which he established in his good faith ; the negocio se asento, de manera, que 3° MS. de Caravantes. — Go- para adelante no se platic6 mas mara, Hist, de las Indias, cap. 187. este nombre de Esclavos, sino que — Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, Parts lalibertad fue general por todo el 1, lib. 2, cap. 93-95. — Zarate, Reino." Herrera, Hist. Gen., Conq. del Peru, lib. 7, cap. 10. dec. 8, lib. 5, cap. 7. VOL. II. 58 458 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. [BooK V. \ ' ^ - latter he won over by argument and persuasion from the very persons to whom they had been confided by his rival. Thus he turned the arms of that rival against himself. By a calm appeal to reason he wrought a change in the hearts of the people ; and, without costing a drop of blood to a single loyal sub- ject, he suppressed a rebellion which had menaced Spain with the loss of the wealthiest of her prov- inces. He had punished the guilty, and in their spoils found the means to recompense the faithful. He had, moreover, so well husbanded the resources of the country, that he was enabled to pay ofF the large loan he had negotiated with the merchants of the colony, for the expenses of the war, exceeding nine hundred thousand pesos de oro.31 Nay, more, by his economy he had saved a million and a half of ducats for the government, which for some years had received nothing from Peru ; and he now proposed to carry back this acceptable treasure to swell the royal coffers.32 All this had been accomplished with- out the cost of outfit or salary, or any charge to the Crown except that of his own frugal expenditure.33 31 " Recogio tanta suma de di- fueron muchas, remitio a S. M. y nero, que pago novecientos mil lo llevo consigo 264,422 marcos de pesos de Oro, que se hallo haver plata, que a seis ducados valieron gastado, desde el Dia que entro en 1 millon 588, 332 ducados." MS. Panama, hasta que se acabd la de Caravantes. Guerra, los qualestomd prestados." & " No tubo ni quiso salario el Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 8, Presidente Gasca sino cedilla para lib. 5, cap. 7. — Zarate, Conq. del que a un mayordomo suyo diosen Peru, lib. 7, cap. 10. los Oficiales reales lo necesario de 32 " Aviendo pagado el Presi- la real Hacienda, que como pareze dente las costas de la guerra que de los quadernos de su gasto fue CH. IV.] HE RETURNS TO SPAIN. 459 ? •* .. - • 488 APPENDIX. [No. VI. alegaremos, yo el dicho capitan Francisco Pizarro y Diego de Almagro, y en nuestros nombres nuestros herederos, que no seamos oidos en juicio ni fuera del, y nos damos por condenados en todo y por todo como en esta escriptura se contiene para lo pagar y que hay a efecto ; y yo el dicho D. Fernando de Luque hago la dicha compania en la forma y manera que de suso esta declarado, y doy los veinte mil pesos de buen oro para el dicho descubrimiento y conquista del dicho reino del Peru, a perdida 6 ganancia, como Dios nuestro Sefior sea servido, y de lo sucedido en el dicho descubrimiento de la dicha gobernacion y tierra, he yo de gozar y haber la tercera parte, y la otra tercera para el capitan Francisco Pizarro, y la otra tercera para Diego de Almagro, sin que el uno lleve mas que el otro, asi de estado de senor, como de repartimiento de indios perpetuos, como de tierras y solares y heredades ; como de tesoros, y escondijos encubiertos, como de cualquier riqueza 6 aprove- chamiento de oro, plata, perlas, esmeraldas, diamantes y rubies, y de cualquier estado y condicion que sea, que los dichos capitan Francisco Pizarro y Diego de Almagro hayais y tengais en el dicho reino del Peru, me habeis de dar la tercera parte. Y nos el dicho capitan Fran- cisco Pizarro y Diego de Almagro decimos que aceptamos la dicha compania y la hacemos con el dicho don Fernando de Luque de la forma y manera que lo pide el, y lo declara para que todos por iguales partes hayamos en todo y por todo, asi de estados perpetuos que S. M. nos hiciese mercedes en vasallos 6 indios 6 en otras cualesquiera rentas, goce el derecho don Fernando de Luque, y haya la dicha tercia parte de todo ello enteramente, y goce de ello como cosa suya desde el dia que S. M. nos hiciere cualesquiera mercedes como dicho es. Y para mayor verdad y seguridad de esta escriptura de compania, y de todo lo en ella contenido, y que os acudiremos y pagaremos nos los dichos capitan Francisco Pizarro y Diego de Almagro a vos el dicho Fernando de Luque con la tercia parte de todo lo que se hubiere y descubriere, y nosotros hubieremos por cualquiera via y forma que sea ; para mayor fuerza de que lo cumpliremos como en esta escriptura se contiene, ju- ramos a Dios nuestro senor y a los Santos Evangelios donde mas larga- mente son escritos y estan en este libro Misal, donde pusieron sus manos el dicho capitan Francisco Pizarro, y Diego de Almagro, hicieron la seaal de la cruz en semejanza de esta f con sus dedos de la mano en presencia de mi el presente escribano, y dijeron que guardaran y cum- pliran esta dicha compania y escriptura en todo y por todo, como en ello se contiene, sopena de infames y malos cristianos, y caer en caso de menos valer, y que Dios se lo demande mal y caramente ; y dijeron el dicho capitan Francisco Pizarro y Diego de Almagro, amen ; y asi lo No. VI.] APPENDIX. 489 juramos y le dareirids el tercio de todo lo que descubrieremos y con- quistaremos y poblaremos en el dicho reino y tierra del Per6, y que goce de ello como nuestras personas, de todo aquello en que fuere nues- tro y tuvieremos parte como dicho es en esta dicha escriptura ; y nos obligamos de acudir con ello a vos el dicho don Fernando de Luque, y a quien en vuestro nombre le perteneciere y hubiere de haber, y les dare- mos cuenta con pago de todo ello cada y cuando que se nos pidiere, hecho el dicho descubrimiento y conquista y poblacion del dicho reino y tierra del Peru ; y prometemos que en la dicha conquista y descubrimiento nos oeuparemos y trabajaremos con nuestras personas sin ocuparnos en otra cosa hasta que se conquiste la tierra y se ganafe, y si no lo hicieremos seamos castigados por todo rigor de justicia por infames y perjuros, seamos obligados a volver a vos el dicho don Fernando de Luque los dichos veinte mil pesos de oro que de vos recibimos. Y para lo cumplir y pagar y haber por firme todo lo en esta escriptura contenido, cada uno por lo que le toca, renunciaron todas y eualesquier leyes y ordenamien- tos, y pramaticas, y otras eualesquier constituciones, ordenanzas que esten fechas en su favor, y cualesquiera de ellos para que aunque las pidan y aleguen, que no les valga. Y valga esta escriptura dicha, y todo lo en ella contenido, y traiga aparejada y debida ejecucion asi en sus personas como en sus bienes, muebles y raicres habidos y por haber ; y para lo cumplir y pagar, cada uno por lo que le toca, obligaron sus personas y bienes habidos y por haber segun dicho es, y dieron poder cumplido a eualesquier justicias y jueces de S. M. para que por todo rigor y mas breve remedio de derecho les compelan y apremien a lo asi cumplir y pagar, como si lo quo dicho es fuese sentencia difinitiva de juez competente pasada en cosa juzgada; y renunciaron eualesquier leyes y derechos que en su favor hablan, especialmente la ley que dice : Que general renunciacion de leyes no vala : Que es fecha en la ciudad de Panama a diez dias del mes de marzo, aiio del nacimiento de nuestro Salvador Jesucristo de mil quinientos veinte y seis aflos : testigos que fueron presentes a lo que dicho es Juan de Panes, y Alvaro del Quiro y Juan de Vallejo, vecinos de la ciudad de Panama, y firmo el dicho D. Fernando de Luque ; y por que no saben firmar el dicho capitan Francisco Pizarro y Diego de Almagro, firmaron por ellos en el registro de esta carta Juan de Panes y Alvaro del Quiro, a los cuales otorgantes yo el presente eseribano doy fe que conozco. Bon Fernando de Luque. — A su ruego de Francisco Pizarro — Juan de Panes ; y a su ruego de Diego de Almagro — Alvaro del Quire* : E yo Hernando del Cas- tillo, eseribano de S. M. y eseribano publico y del numero de esta ciudad de Panama, presente fui al otorgamiento de esta carta, y la fice VOL. II. 62 490 APPENDIX. [No. Vli. escribir en estas cuatro fojas con esta, y por ende fice aqui este mi signo a tal en testimonio de verdad. Hernando del Castillo, escribano publico. No. VTL — See Vol. 1., pp. 211, 307. CAPITULATION MADE BY FRANCIS PIZARRO WITH THE QUEEN, MS., DATED TOLEDO, JULY 26, 1529. [For a copy of this document, I am indebted to Don Martin Fernandez de Navarre te, late Director of the Royal Academy of History at Madrid. Though sufficiently long, it is of no less importance than the preceding contract, form- ing, like that, the foundation on which the enterprise of Pi- zarro and his associates may be said to have rested.] ^ . ._, • . > ' , . LA REINA : — Por cuanto vos el capitan Francisco Pizarro, vecino de Tierra firme, llamada Castilla del Oro, por vos y en nombre del venera- ble padre D. Fernando de Luque, maestre escuela y provisor de la igle- sia del Darien, sede vacante, que es en la dicha Castilla del Oro, y el capitan Diego de Almagro, vecino de la ciudad de Panama, nos hicisteis relacion, que vos e los dichos vuestros companeros con deseo de nos servir e del bien e acrecentamiento de nuestra corona real, puede haber cinco anos, poco mas o menos, que con licencia e parecer de Pedrarias Davila, nuestro gobernador e capitan general que fue de la dicha Tierra firme, tomastes cargo de ir a conquistar, descubrir e pacificar e poblar por la costa del mar del Sur, de la dicha tierra a la parte de Levante, a vuestra costa e de los dichos vuestros companeros, todo lo mas que por aquella parte pudieredes, e hicisteis para ello dos navios e un bergantin en la dicha costa, en que asi en esto por se haber de pasar la jarcia e aparejos necesarios al dicho viaje e armada desde el Nombre de Dios, que es la costa del Norte, a la otra costa del Sur, como con la gente e otras cosas necesarias al dicho viaje, e tornar a rehacer la dicha armada, gastasteis mucha suma de pesos de oro, e fuistes a hacer e hicisteis el dicho descubrimiento, donde pasastes muchos peligros e trabajo, a causa de lo cual os dejo toda la gente que con vos iba en una isla despoblada oon solos trece hombres que no vos quisieron dejar, y que con ellos y con el socorro que de navios e gente vos hizo el dicho capitan Diego de No. VII.] APPENDIX. 491 Almagro, pasastes de la dicha isla e descubristes las tierras e provincias del Piru e ciudad de Tumbes, en que habeis gastado vos e los dichos vuestros compafieros mas de treinta mil pesos de oro, e que con el deseo que teneis de nos servir querriades continuar la dicha conquista e pobla- cion a vuestra costa e mision, sin que en ningun tiempo seamos obliga- dos a vos pagar ni satisfacer los gastos que en ello hicieredes, mas de lo que en esta capitulacion vos fuese otorgado, e me suplicasteis e pedistes por merced vos mandase encomendar la conquista de las dichas tierras, e vos concediese e otorgase las mercedes, e con las condiciones que de suso seran contenidas ; sobre lo cual yo mande tomar con vos el asiento y capitulacion siguiente. Primeramente doy licencia y facultad a vos el dicho capitan Francisco Pizarro, para que por nos y en.nuestro nombre e de la corona real de Castilla, podais continuar el dicho descubrimiento, conquista y poblacion de la dicha provincia.del Peru, fasta ducientas leguas de tierra por la misma costa, las cuales dichas ducientas leguas comienzan desde el pu- eblo que en lengua de indios se dice Tenumpuela, e despues le llamas- teis Santiago, hasta llegar al pueblo de Chincha, que puede haber las dichas ducientas leguas de costa, poco mas o menos. ITEM : Entendiendo ser cumplidero al servicio de Dios nuestro Senor y nuestro, y por honrar vuestra persona, e por vos hacer merced, prome- temos de vos hacer nuestro gobernador e capitan general de toda la dicha provincia del Piru, e tierras y pueblos que al presente hay e adelante hubiere en todas las dichas ducientas leguas, por todos los dias de vues- tra vida, con salario de setecientos e veinte y cinco mill maravedis cada ano, contados desde el dia que vos hieiesedes a la vela destos nuestros reinos para continuar la dicha poblacion e conquista, los cuales vos han de ser pagados de las rentas y derechos a nos pertenecientes en la dicha tierra que ansi habeis de poblar ; del cual salario habeis de pagar en cada un ano un alcalde mayor, diez escuderos, e treinta peones, e un medico, e un boticario, el cual salario vos ha de ser pagado por los nues- tros oficiales de la dicha tierra. OTROSI : Vos hacemos merced de titulo de nuestro Adelantado de la dicha provincia del Peru, e ansimismo del oficio de alguacil mayor della, todo ello por los dias de vuestra vida. OTROSI : Vos doy, licencia para que con parecer y acuerdo de los dichos nuestros oficiales podais hacer en las dichas tierras e provincias del Peru, hasta cuatro fortalezas, en las partes y lugares que mas con- vengan, paresciendo a vos e a los dichos nuestros oficiales ser necesarias para guarda e pacificacion de la dicha tierra, e vos hare merced de las tenencias dellas, para vos; e para 16s herederos, e subcesores vuestros, APPENDIX. [No. VII. uno en pos de otro, Con salario de setenta y cinco mill maravedis en cada un afio por cada una de las dichas fortalezas, que ansi estuvieren hechas, las cuales habeis de hacer a vuestra costa, sin que nos, ni los reyes que despues de nos vinieren, seamos obligados a vos lo pagar al tiempo que asi lo gastaredes, salvo dende en cinco afios despues de acabada la fortaleza, pagandoos en cada un afio de los dichos cinco anos la quinta parte de lo que se montare el dicho gasto, de los frutos de la dicha tieira. OTROSI : Vos hacemos merced para ayuda a vuestra costa de mill ducados en cada un afio por los dias de vuestra vida de las rentas de las dichas tierras. QTROSI : Es nuestra merced, acatando la buena vida e doetrina de la persona del dicho don Fernando de Luque de le presentar a nuestro muy Sancto Padre por obispo de la ciudad de Tumbes, que es en la dicha provincia y gobernacion del Peru, con limites e diciones que por nos con autoridad apostolica seran sefialados ; y entretanto que vienen las bulas del dicho obispado, le hacemos protector universal de todos los indios de dicha provincia, con salario de mill ducados en cada un afio, pagado de nuestras rentas de la dicha tierra, entretanto que hay diezmos eclesiasticos de que se pueda pagar. OTROSI : Por cuanto nos habedes- suplicado por vos en el dicho nom- bre vos hiciese merced de algunos vasallos en las dichas tierras, e al presente lo dejamos de hacer por no tener entera relacion de ellas, es nuestra merced que, entretanto que informados proveamos en ello lo que a nuestro servicio e a la enmienda e satisfaction de vuestros trabajos e servicios conviene, tengais la veintena parte de los pechos que nos tu- vieremos en cada un ano en la dicha tierra, con tanto que no exceda de mill y quinientos ducados, los mill para vos el dicho capitan Pizarro, e los quinientos para el dicho Diego de Almagro. OTROSI : Hacemos merced al dicho capitan Diego de Almagro de la tenencia de la fortaleza que hay u obiere en la dicha ciudad de Tumbes, que es en la dicha provincia del Peru, con salario de cien mill maravedis cada un ano, con mas ducientos mill maravedis cada un afio de ayuda de costa, todo pagado de las rentas de la dicha tierra, de las cuales ha de gozar desde el dia que vos el dicho Francisco Pizarro llegaredes a la dicha tierra^ aunque el dicho capitan Almagro sequede en Panama, e en otra parte que le convenga ; e le haremos home hijodalgo, para que goce de las honras e preminencias que los homes hijodalgo pueden y deben gozar en todas las Indias, islas e tierra firme del mar Oceano. OTROSI : Mandamos que las dichas haciendas, e tierras, e solares que teneis en tierra firme, llamada Gastilla del Oro, e vos estan dadas como ' ' No. Vll/j APPENDIX. 493 a vecino de ella, las tengais e goceis, e hagais de ello lo que quisieredes e por bien tuvieredes, conforme a lo que tenemos concedido y otorgado a los vecinos de la dicha tierra firme ; e en lo que toca a los indios e naborias que teneis e vos estan encomendados, es nuestra merced e voluntad e mandamos que los tengais e goceis e sirvais de ellos, e que no vos seran quitados ni removidos por el tiempo que nuestra voluntad fuere. OTROSI : Concedemos a los que fueren a poblar la dicha tierra que en los seis afios primeros siguientes desde el dia de la data de esta en ade- lante, que del oro que se cogiere de las minas nos paguen el diezmo, y cumplidos los dichos seis afios paguen el noveno, e ansi decendiendo en cada un afio hasta llegar al quinto : pero del oro e otras cosas que se obieren de rescatar, o cabalgadas, o en otra cualquier manera, desde luego nos han de pagar el quinto de todo ello. OTROSI : Franqueamos a los vecinos de la dicha tierra por los dichos seis afios, y mas, y cuanto fuere nuestra voluntad, de almojarifazgo de tqdo lo que llevaren para proveimiento e provision de sus casas, con tanto que no sea para lo vender ; e de lo que vendieren ellos, e otras cualesquier personas, mercaderes e tratantes, ansimesmo los franquea- mos por dos afios tan solamente. ITEM : Prometemos que por termino de diez afios, e mas adelante hasta que otra cosa mandemos en contrario, no impornemos a los vecinos de las dichas tierras alcabalas ni otro tribute alguno. ITEM : Concedemos a los dichos vecinos e pobladores que les scan dados por vos los solares y tierras convenientes a sus personas, conforme a lo que se ha hecho e hace en la dicha Isla Espanola ; e ansimismo os daremos poder para que en nuestro nombre, durante el tiempo de vuestra gobernacion, hagais la encomienda de los indios de la dicha tierra, guar- dando en ella las instrucciones e ordenanzas que vos seran dadas. ITEM : A suplicacion vuestra hacemos nuestro piloto mayor de la mar del Sur a Bartolome Ruiz, con setenta y cinco mill maravedis de salario en cada un afio, pagados de la renta de la dicha tierra, de los cuales ha de gozar desde el dia que le fuere entregado el titulo que de ello le man- daremos dar, e en las espaldas se asentara el jurarnento e solenidad que ha de hacer ante vos, e otorgado ante escribano. Asimismo daremos titulo de escribano de numero e del consejo de la dicha ciudad de Tum- bes, a un hijo de dicho Bartolome Ruiz, siendo habil e suficiente para ello. OTROSI : Somos contentos e nos place que vos el dicho capitan Pi- zarro, cuanto nuestra merced e voluntad fuere, tengais la gobernacion e administracion de los indios de la nuestra isla de Flores, que es cerca de f 494 APPENDIX. [No. VII. Panama, e goceis para vos e para quien vos quisieredes, de todos los aprovechamientos que hobiere en la dicha isla, asi de tierras como de solares, e monies, e arboles, e mineros, e pesqueria de perlas, con tanto que seals obligado por razon de ello a dar a nos e a los nuestros oficia- les de Castilla del Oro en cada un ano de los que ansi fuere nuestra voluntad que vos la tengais, ducientos mill maravedis, e mas el quinto de todo el oro e perlas que en cualquier manera e por cualesquier personas se sacare en la dicha isla de Flores, sin descuento alguno, con tanto que los dichos indios de la dicha isla de Flores no los podais ocupar en la pesqueria de las perlas, ni en las minas del oro, ni en otros metales, sino en las otras granjerias e aprovechamientos de la dicha tierra, para pro- vision e mantenimiento de la dicha vuestra armada, e de las que adelante obieredes de hacer para la dicha tierra ; e permitimos que si vos el dicho Francisco Pizarro llegado a Castilla del Oro, dentro de dos meses luego siguientes, declarades ante el dicho nuestro gobernador e juez de resi- de ncia que alii estuviere, que no vos querais encairgar de la dicha isla de Flores, que en tal caso no seais tenudo e obligado a nos pagar por razon de ello las dichas ducientas mill maravedis, e que se quede para nos la dicha isla, como agora la tenemos. ITEM : Acatando lo mucho que han servido en el dicho viaje e des- cubrimiento Bartolome Ruiz, Cristoval de Peralta, e Pedro de Candia, e Domingo de Soria Luce, e Nicolas de Ribera, e Francisco de Cuellar, e Alonso de Molina, e Pedro Alcon, e Garcia de Jerez, e Anton de Carrion, e Alonso Briceno, e Martin de Paz, e Joan de la Torre, e porque vos me lo suplicasteis e pedistes por merced, es nuestra merced e voluntad de les hacer merced, como por la presente vos la hacemos a los que de ellos no son idalgos, que sean idalgos notorios de solar cono- cido en aquellas partes, e que en ellas e en todas las nuestras Indias, islas y tierra firme del mar Oceano, gocen de las preeminencias e liber- tad es, e otras cosas de que gozan, y deben ser guardadas a los hijosdalgo notorios de solar conocido dentro nuestros reinos, e a los que de los sn- sodichos son idalgos, que sean caballeros de espuelas doradas, dando primero la informacion que en tal caso se requiere. ITEM : Vos hacemos merced de veinte y cinco veguas e ctros tantos caballos de los que nos tenemos en la isla de Jamaica, e no las abiendo cuando las pidieredes, no set mos tenudos al precio de ellas, ni de otra cosa por razon de ellas. OTROSI : Os hacemos merced de trescientos mill maravedis pagados en Castilla del Oro para el artilleria e municion que habeis de llevar a la dicha provincia del Peru, llevando fe de los nuestros oficiales de la casa de Sevilla de las cosas que ansi comprastes, e de lo que vos cost6, No. VII.] APPENDIX. 495 contando el interese e cambio de ello, e mas os hare* merced de otros ducientos ducados pagados en Castilla del Oro para ayuda al acarreto de la dicha artilleria e municiones e otras cosas vuestras desde el Nombre de Dios so la dicha mar del Sur. OTROSI : Vos daremos licencia, como por la presente vos la damos, para que destos nuestros reinos, e del reino de Portugal e islas de Cabc Verde, e dende, vos, e quien vuestro poder hubiere, quisieredes e por bien tuvieredes, podais pasar e paseis a la dicha tierra de vuestra go- bernacion cincuenta esclavos negros en que haya a lo menos el tercio de hembras, libres de todos derechos a nos pertenecientes, con tanto que si los dejaredes e parte de ellos en la isla Espanola, San Joan, Cuba, San- tiago e en Castilla del Oro,,e en otra parte alguna los que de ellos ansi dejaredes, scan perdidos e aplicados, e por la presente los aplicamos a nuestra camara e fisco. OTROSI : Que hacemos merced y limosna al hospital que se hiciese en la dicha tierra, para ayuda al remedio de los pobres que alia fueren, de cien mill maravedis librados en las penas aplicadas de la camara de la dicha tierra. Ansimismo a vuestro pedimento e consentimiento de los primeros pobladores de la dicha tierra, decimos que haremos merced, como por la presente la hacemos, a los hospitales de la dicha tierra de los derechos de la escubilla e relaves que hubiere en las fundiciones que en ella se hicieren, e de ello mandaremos dar nuestra provision en forma. OTROSI : Decimos que mandaremos, e por la presente mandamos, que hay an e residan en la ciudad de Panama, e doiide vos fuere mandado, un carpintero e un calafate, e cada uno de ellos tenga de salario treinta mill maravedis en cada un afio dende que comenzaren a residir en la dicha ciudad, o donde, como dicho es, vos les mandaredes ; a los cuales les mandaremos pagar por los nuestros oficiales de la dicha tierra de vuestra gobernacion cuando nuestra merced y voluntad fuere. ITEM : Que vos mandaremos dar nuestra provision en forma para que en la dicha costa del mar del Sur podais tomar cualesquier navios que hubie redes menester, de • consentimiento de sus duenos, para los viajes que hobieredes de hacer a la dicha tierra, pagando a los duenos de los tales navios el flete que justo sea, no embargante que otras personas los tengan fletados para otras partes. Ansimismo que mandaremos, e por la presente mandamos e defende- mos, que destos nuestros reinos no vayan ni pasen a las dichas tierras ningunas personas de las prohibidas que no puedan pasar a aquellas par- tes, so las penas contenidas en las leyes e ordenanzas e cartas nUestras, que cerca de esto por nos e por los reyes catolicos estan dadas ; ni le- trados ni procuradores para usar de sus oficios. 496 APPENDIX. [No. VII. Lo cual que dicho es, e cada cosa e parte de ello vos concedemos, con tanto que vos el dicho capitan Pizarro seals tenudo e obligado de salir destos nuestros reinos con los navies e aparejos e mantenimientos e otras cosas que fueren menester para el dicho viaje y poblacion, con du- cientos e cincuenta hombres, los ciento y cincuenta destos nuestros reinos e otras partes no prohibidas, e los ciento restantes podais llevar de las islas e tierra firme del mar Oceano, con tanto que de la dicha tierra firme llamada Castilla del Oro no saqueis mas de veinte hombres, sino fuere de los que en el primero e segundo viaje que vos hicisteis a la dicha tierra del Peru se hallaron con vos, porque a estos damos licen- cia que puedan ir con vos libremente ; lo cual hayais de cumplir desde el dia de la data de esta hasta seis meses primeros siguientes : allegado a la dicha Castilla del Oro, e allegado a Panama, seals tenudo de pro- seguir el dicho viaje, e hacer el dicho descubrimiento e poblacion dentro de otros seis meses luego siguientes. ITEM : Con condicion que cuando salieredes destos nuestros reinos e llegaredes a las dichas provincias del Peru hayais de llevar y tener con vos a los oficiales de nuestra hacienda, que por nos estan e fueren nom- brados ; e asimismo las personas religiosas o eclesiasticas que por nos seran seualadas para instruceion de los indios e naturales de aquella pro- vincia a nuestra santa fe catolica, con cuyo parecer e no sin ellos habeis de hacer la conquista, descubrimiento e poblacion de la dicha tierra ; a los cuales religiosos habeis de dar e pagar el flete e matalotaje, e los otros mantenimientos necesarios conforme a sus personas, todo a vuestra costa, sin por ello les llevar cosa alguna durante la dicha navegacion, lo cual mucho vos lo encargamos que ansi hagais e cumplais, como cosa de servicio de Dios e nuestro, porque de lo contrario nos terniamos de vos por deservidos. OTROSI : Con condicion que en la dicha pacificacion, conquista y po- blacion e tratamiento de dichos indios en sus personas y bienes, seais tenudos e obligados de guardar en todo e por todo lo contenido en las or- denanzas e instrucciones que para esto te nemos fechas, e se hicieren, e vos seran dadas en la nuestra carta e provision que vos mandaremos dar para la encomienda de los dichos indios. E cumpliendo vos el dicho capitan Francisco Pizarro lo contenido en este asiento, en todo lo que a vos toca e incumbe de guardar e cumplir, prometemos, e vos aseguramos por nuestra palabra real que agora e de aqui adelante vos mandaremos guardar e vos sera guardado todo lo que ansi vos concedemos, e facemos merced, a vos e a los pobladores e tratantes en la dicha tierra ; e para ejecucion y cumplimiento dello, vos mandaremos dar nuestras cartas e provisiones particulars que convengan e menester scan, obligandoos vo« No. VIII.J APPENDIX. 497 el dicho capitan Pizarro primeramente ante escribano publico de guar- dar e cumplir lo contenido en este asiento que a vos toca como dicho es. Fecha en Toledo a 26 de jullio de 1529 anos. — YO LA REINA. — Por mandado de S. M. • — Juan Vazquez. No. Vm. — See Vol. I., p. 417. CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS OF ATAHUALLPA'S SEIZURE. [As the seizure of the Inca was one of the most memora^ ble, as well as foulest, transactions of the Conquest, I have thought it might be well to put on record the testimony, for- tunately in my possession, of several of the parties present on the occasion.] Relation del Primer Descubrimiento de la Costa y Mar del Sur, MS. A la hora de las cuatro comienzan a caminar por su calzada adelante derecho a donde nosotros estabamos, y a las cinco o poco mas llego £ la puerta de la ciudad, quedando todos los campos cubiertos de gente, y asi comenzaron a entrar por la plaza hasta trescientos hombres como mozos despuelas con sus arcos y flechas en las manos, cantando un cantar no nada gracioso para los que lo oyamos, antes espantoso porque parecia cosa infernal, y dieron una vuelta a aquella mezquita amagando al suelo con las manos a limpiar lo que por el estaba, de lo cual habia poca necesidad, porque los del pueblo le tenian bien barrido para cuando entrase. Acabada de dar su vuelta pararon todos juntos, y entro otro escuadron de hasta mil hombres con picas sin yerros tostadas las pun- tas, todos de una librea de colores, digo que la de los primeros era blan- ca y Colorada, como las casas de un axedrez. Entrado el segundo escuadron entr6 el tercero de otra librea, todos con martillos en las manos de cobre y plata, que es una arma que ellos tienen, y ansi desta manera entraron en la dicha plaza muchos Senores principales que venian en medio de los delanterds y de la persona de Atabalipa. Detras destoa en una litera muy rica, los cabos de los maderos cubiertos de platar venia la persona de Atabalipa, la cual traian ochenta Senores en hom- bros todos vestidos de una librea azul muy rica, y el vestido su persona muy ricamente con su corona en la cabeza, y al cuello un collar de esme- VOL. II. 63 498 APPENDIX. [No. VIII. raldas grandes, y sentado en la litera en una silla muy pequena con un coxin muy rico. En llegando al medio de la plaza paro, llevando descu- bierto el medio cuerpo de fuera ; y toda la gente de guerra que estaba en la plaza le tenian en medio, estando dentro hasta seis 6 siete mil hombres. Como el vio que ninguna persona salia a el, ni parecia, tubo creido, y asi lo confeso el despues de preso, que nos habiamos escondido de miedo de ver su poder ; y dio una vox y dixo : Donde estan estos ? A la cual salio del aposento del dicho Gobernador Pizarro el Padre Fray Vicente de Valverde de la orden de los Predicadores, que despues fue obispo de aquella tierra con la bribia en la mano y con el una lengua, y asi juntos llegaron por entre la gente a poder hablar con Atabalipa, al cual le comenzo a decir cosas de la sagrada escriptura, y que nuestro Senor Jesu-Christo mandaba que entre los suyos no hubiese guerra, ni discordia, sino todo paz, y que el en su nombre ansi se lo pedia y re- queria; pues habia quedado de tratar.della el dia antes, y de venir solo sin, gente de guerra. A las cuales palabras y ptras muchas que el Frayle le dixo, el estubo callando sin volver respuesta ; y tornandole a decir que mirase lo que Dios mandaba, lo cual estaba en aquel libro que llevaba en la mano escripto, admirandose a mi parecer mas de la eseriptura, que de lo escripto en elJa : le pidio el libro, y le abrio y ojeo, mirando el molde y la orden del, y despues de visto, le arrojo por entre la gente con mucha ira, el rostro muy encarnizado, diciendo : Decildes a esos, que vengan aca, que no pasare de aqui hasta que me den cuenta y satisfagan y paguen lo que ban hecho en la tierra.. Visto esto por el Frayle y lo poco que aprovechaban TSUS palabras, tomo su libro, y abajo su cabeza, y fuese para donde estaba el dicho Pizarro, casi corriendo, y dijole : No veis lo que pasa : para que estais en comedimientos y reque- rimientos con este perro lleno de soberbia, que vienen los campos llenos de Indios? Salid a el, — que yo os absuelvo. Y ansi acabadas de decir estas palabras que fue" todo en un instante, tocan las trompetas, y parte de su posada con toda la gente de pie, que con el estaba, diciendo : Santiago a ellos ; y asi salimos todos a aquella voz a una, porque todas aquellas casas que salian a la plaza tenian muchas puertas, y parece que se habian fecho a aquel proposito. En arremetiendo los de caballo y rompiendo por ellos todo fue uno, que sin matar sino solo un negro de nuestra parte, fueron todos desbaratados y Atabalipa preso, y la gente puesta en huida, aunque no pudieron huir del tropel, porque la puerta por do habian entrado era pequena y con la turbacion no podian salir ; y visto los traseros cuan lejos tenian la acoxida y remedio de huir, arri- maronse dos 6 tres mil dellos a un lienso de pared, y dieron con el a tierra, el cual salia al campo porque por aquella parte no habia casas, No. VIII.] APPENDIX. 499 y ansi tubieron camino ancho para huir ; y los escuadrones de gente quc habian quedado en el campo sin entrar en el pueblo, como vieron huir y dar alaridos, los mas dellos fueron desbaratados y se pusieron en huida, que era cosa harto de ver, que un valle de cuatro 6 cinco leguas todo iba cuaxado de gente. En este vino la noche muy presto, y la gente se recogio, y Atabalipa se puso en una casa de piedra, que era el templo del sol, y asi se pas6 aquella noche con grand regocijo y placer de la vitoria que nuestro Seiior nos habia dado, poniendo mucho recabdo en hacer guardia a la persona de Atabalipa para que no volviesen a. tomar- nosle. Cierto fue permision de Dios y grand acertamiento guiado por su mano, porque si este dia no se prendiera, con la soberbia que trahia, aquella noche fueramos todos asolados por ser tan pocos, como tengo dicho, y ellos tantos. Pedro Pizarroj Descubrimiento y Conquista de los Reynos del Peru, MS. Pues despues de aver comido, que acavaria a hora de missa mayor, enpego a levantar su gente y a venirse hazia Caxamalca. Hechos sus esquadrones, que cubrian los campos, y el metido en vnas andas enpe$u a caminar, viniendo delante del dos mil yndios que le barrian el camino por donde venia caminando, y la gente de guerra la mitad de vn lado y la mitad de otro por los campos sin entrar en camino : traia ansi mesmo al senor de Chincha consigo en vnas andas, que parescia a los suyos cossa de admiracion, porque ningun yndio, por senor principal que fuese, avia de parescer delante del sino fuese con vna carga a cuestas y des- calzo : pues hera tanta la pateneria que traian d' oro y plata, que hera cossa estrana lo que reluzia con el sol : venian ansi mesmo delante de Atabalipa muchos yndios cantando y danzando. Tardose ste senor en andar esta media legua que ay dende los bafios a donde el estava hasta Caxamalca, dende ora de missa mayor, como digo, hasta tres eras antes que anochesciese. Pues llegada la gente a la puerta de la plaza, enpe- §aron a entrar los esquadrones con grand es oantares, y ansi entrando ocuparon toda la plaza por todas partes. Visto el marquez don Francisco Pi-• :-)..fc.'jrf.'i. ^ »• . . v ^ LETTER FROM THE MUNICIPALITY OF AREQUIPA TO THE EMPEROR CHARLES THE FIFTH, MS.; DATED AT SAN JUAN DE LA FRONTERA, SEPT. 1A, 1542. [The stout burghers of Arequipa gave efficient aid to the royal governor, in his contest .with the younger Almagro ; and their letter, signed by the municipality, forms one of the nuDst authentic documents for a history of this civil war. The -original is in the archives at Simancas.] S. C. C. M. — Aunque de otros muchos terna V. M. aviso de la vitoria que en ventura de V. M. i buena deligencia i animo del Governa- dor Vaca de Castro se ovo del tirano t)on Diego de Ahnagro e sus se- cazes, nosotros el Cabildo i vecino de Arequipa le queremos tambien dar, porque como quien se hallo en el peligro, podremos con tar de la verdad como pasfc Desde Xauxa hicimos relacion a V. M. de todo lo sucedido hasta en- tonses, i de los preparamientos qucl Governador tenia proveidos para la guerra de alii. Salio con toda la gente en orden i se vino a esta Cibdad de San Joan de la Frontera, donde tuvimos nuevas como el traidor de Don Diego de Almagro estava en la provincia de Bilcas, que es onze leguas desta Cibdad, que venia determinado con su dafiada intencion a darnos la batalla. En este comedio vino Lope Diaquez del real de los traidores, i dio al Gove'rnador una carta de Don Diego^ i otra de doze Capitanes mui desvergonzados de fieros i amenazas, i el Governador con zelo de que no oviese tantas muertes entre los vasallos de-V. M. como siempre No. XIII.] APPENDIX. fue su intento de ganar el juego por mafia, acordo de tornarles a enbiar al dicho Lope Ydiaquez i a Diego de Mercado Fator de la nueva Toledo, para ver si los podian reducir i atraer al servicio de V. M. i fueron tan mal rescibidos que quando escaparon con las vidas se tuvieron por bien librados. La respuesta que les dieron fue que no querian obedecer las provisiones reales de V. M. sino darle la batalla, i luego alzaron su Real i caminaron para nosotros. Visto esto el Governador saco su Real deste pueblo i camino contra ellos dos leguas, donde supo, que los traidores estavan a tres, en un asiento fuerte i comodo para su artilleria. El go~ vernador acordo de los guardar alii, donde le tomo la voz, porque era llano i lugar fuerte al nuestro proposito. Como esto vieron los traidores, sabado que se contaron diez i seis de setiembre, se levantaron de donde estavan, i caminaron por lo alto de la sierra i vinieron una legua de nos- otros, i sus corredores vinieron a ver nuestro asiento. Luego el Go- vernador provio que por una media loma fuese un Capitan con cinquen- ta arcabuceros, i otro con cinquenta lanzas a tomar lo alto, i'sucedio tambien que sin ningun riesgo se tomo, i luego todo el exercito de V. M. lo subio. Visto esto, los enemigos que estarian tres quartos de legua, procuraron de buscar campo cfonde nos dar la batalla, i asi le tomaron i su proposito i asentaron su artilleria i concertaron sus esquadrones, que eran ducientos i treinta de cavallo, en que venian cinquenta hdmbres de armas: la infanteria eran ducientos arcabuzeros- i ciento i cinquenta pi- qiieros, todos tan lucidos e bien armados, que de Milan no pudieran salir mejor aderezados : el artilleria eran seis medias culebrinas de diez a doze pies de largo, que echavan de bateria una naranja : tenian mas otros seis tiros medianos todos de fruslera, tan bien aderezados i con tanta municion, que mas parecia artilleria de Ytalia que no de Yndias. El Governador vista su desverguenza, la gente mui en orden, despues de haver hecho los razonamientos que convenian, diciendouos que viese- mos la desverguenza que los traidores tenian i el gran desacato a la corona Real, camino a ellos, i llegando a tiro donde su artilleria podia alcanzar, jugo luego en nosotros, que la nuestra por ser mui pequefia e ir caminando, no- nos podimos, aprovechar della' de ninguna cosa, i asi la dexamos por popa : matarnos hian antes que llegasemos a romper con ellos mas de 30 hombres, i siempre con este dano que rescebiamos, caminamos hasta nos poner a tiro de arcabuz, donde de una parte i de otra jugaron i se hizo de a mas partes arto dano, i lo mas presto que nos fue posible porque su artilleria aun nos/ecbava algunas pelotas en nues- tros esquadrones, cerramos con ellos, donde duro la battalia de lanzas, porras i espadas mas de una. grande hora ; . fue tan reilida i porfiada que despues de la de Rebena no se ha visto entre tan poca gente mas cruel 516 APPENDIX. [No. XIII batalla, donde bermanos a hermanos, ni deudos a deudos, ni amigos a amigos no se davan vida uno a otro. Finalmente como llevasemos la justicia de nuestra parte, nuestro Senor en ventura de V. M. nos dio vi- toria, i en el denuedo con que acometio el Governador Baca de Castro el qual estava sobresaliente con treinta de cavallo, armado en bianco con una ropilla de brocado sobre las armas con su encomienda descubierta en los pechos, contra el qual estavan conjurados muchos de los traidores, pero el cemo cavallero se les mostro i defendio tan bien, que para hombre de su *edad i profesion, estamos espantados de lo que hizo i trabajo, i como rompio con sus sobresalientes, luego desampararon el campo i conseguimos gloriosa vitoria, la qual estuvo harto dudosa, porque si era- mos en numero ciento mas que ellos, en escqger el campo i artilleria i hombres de armas i arcabuzes, nos tenian doblada ventaja. Fue bien sangrienta de entramas partes, i si la noche no cerrara tan presto, V. M. quedara bien satisfecho destos traidores, pero lo que no se pudo entonses hacer, ahora el Governador lo hace, desquartizando cada dia a los que se eacaparon : murieron en la batalla de los nuestros el capitan Per Alvarez Holguin i otros sesenta cavalleros i Hidalgos ; i estan eridos de muerte Gomez de Tordoya i el Capitan Peranzures i otros mas de ciento. De los traidores murieron ciento e cinquenta, i mas de otros tantos eridos ; presos estan mas de ciento i cinquenta : Don Diego i otros tres capitanes se escaparon : cada ora se traen presos, esperamos que un dia se habra Don. Diego a las manps, porque los Yndios como villanos de Ytalia los matan i traen presos. V. M. tenga esta vitoria en gran servicio, porque puede creer que agnora se acabo de ganar esta tierra i ponerla debaxX) del cetro Real de V. M. i que esta ha sido verdadera conquista i pacification 'della, i asi es justo que V. M. como gratisimo Principe gratifique i haga mercedes a- los que se la dieron ; i al Governador Baca de Castro per- petuarle en ella en entramas governaciones no dividiendo nada dellas porque no hai otra batalla, i £ los soldados i vecinos que en ella se ha- llaron, remunerarles sus trabajos i perdidas, que ban rescibido por reducir estos Reinos a la Corona Real de V. M. i mandando castigar a los vecinos que oyendo la voz Real de V. M. se quedaron en sus casas grange- ando sus repartimientos i haciendas, porque gran sin justicia seria, Sacra M. que bolviendo nosotros a nuestras easas pobres i mancos de guerra de mas de un afio, hallasemos a los que se quedaron sanos i salvos i rieos, i que a ellos no se les diese pena ni a nosotros premio ni galardon, i esto seria ocasion para que si otra vez oviese otra rebelion en esta tierra 6 en otra, no acudieserr al servicio de X7". M. como seria razon i eomos obligados. Todos tenemos por cierto, quel Governador Baca de Castro lo hara asi, i que en nombre de T M. a los que le han servido No. XIV.] APPENDIX. 517 hara mercedes, i a los que no acudieron a servir a V. M. castigara. S. C. C. M. Dios todo poderoso acreciente la vida de V. M. dandole vitoria contra sus enemigos, porque sea acrescentada su santa fee, amen De San Joan de la Frontera a 24 de septiembre de 1542 anos. — Besan las manos i pies de V. M. sus leales Vasallos,— - Hernando de Silva, — Pedro Picarro, — Lucas Martinez, — Gomez de Leon, — Hernando de Torre, — Lope de Alarcon, — Juan de Arves, — Juan Flores, — Juan Ramirez, — Alonso Buelte, — Melchior de Cervantes, — Martin Lor pez, — Juan Crespo, — Francisco Pinto, — Alonso Rodriguez Picado. No. XIV. — See Vol. II., p. 433. PROCESS CONTAINING THE SENTENCE OF DEATH PASSEp ON GONZALO PIZARRO, AT XAQUIXAGUANA, APRIL 9, 1548. -p $•'•% [This instrument is taken from the original manuscript of Zarate's Chronicle, which is still preserved at Simancas. Munoz has made several extracts from this MS., showing that Zarate's history, in its printed form, underwent con- siderable alteration, both in regard to its facts, and the style of its execution. The printed copy is prepared with more consideration ; various circumstances, too frankly detailed in the original, are suppressed ; and the style and disposition of the work show altogether a more fastidious and practised hand. These circumstances have led Munoz to suppose that the Chronicle was submitted to the revision of some more experienced writer, before its publication ; and a cor- respondence which the critic afterwards found in the Escu- rial, between Zarate and Florian d' Ocampo, leads to the inference that the latter historian did this kind office for the former. But whatever the published work may have gained as a literary composition, as a book of reference and authority it falls behind its predecessor, which seems to have come without much premeditation from the author, or, at least, without much calculation of consequences. Indeed, 518 APPENDIX. [No. XIV. its obvious value for historical uses led Munoz, in a note indorsed on the fragments, to intimate his purpose of copy- ing the whole manuscript at some future time.] Vista e entendida por Nos el Mariscal Francisco de Albarado, Maestre de Campo deste Real exercito, el Licenciado Andres de Cianca, Oidor de S. M. destos Reinos, e subdelegados por el mui Ilustre Senor el Licen- ciado Pedro de la Gazca del Consejo de S. M. de la Santa Inquisicion, Presidente destos Reinos 6 provincias del Peru, para lo infra escripto la notoriedad de los muchos graves e atroces delitos que Gonzalo Pizarro ha. cometido e consentido coraeter a los que le han seguido, despues que a estos Reinos ha venido el Visorrey Blasco NuSez Vela, en deservicio e desacato de S. M. e de su preminencia € corona Real, e contra la natural obligacion 6 fidelidad que como su vasallo tenia e devia a su Rei e senor natural e de personas particulares, los quales por ser tan notorios del dicho no se requiere orden ni tela de juicio, mayormente que muchos de los dichos delitos consta por confesion del dicho Gon- zalo Pizarro € la notoriedad por la informacion que se ha tornado, e que combiene para la pacificacion destos Reinos e exemplo con brevedad hacer justicia del dicho Gonzalo Pizarro. Fallamos atento lo susodicho junta la dispusicion del derecho, qu« devemos declarar e declaramos el dicho Gonzalo Pizarro haver cometido crimen laesae Majestatis contra la corona Real Despana en todos los grades e causas en derecho contenidas despues que a estos Reinos vino el Virrey Blasco Nunez Vela, e asi le declaramos e condenamos al dicho Gonzalo Pizarro por traidor, e haver incurrido el e sus descen- dientes nacidos aespues quel cometio este dicho crimen e traicion los por linea masculina hasta la segunda generacion, e por la femenina hasta la primera, en la infamia e inabilidad e inabilidades, e como a tal con- denamos al dicho Gonzalo Pizarro en pena de muerte natural, la qual le mandamos que sea dada en la forma siguiente : que sea sacado de la prision en questa cavallero en una mura de silla atados pies e manos e traido publicamente por este Real de S. M. con voz de pregonero que manifieste su delito, sea llevado al tablado que por nuestro mandado esta fecho en este Real, e alii sea apeado e cortada la cabeza por el pescueso, e despues de muerta naturalmente, mandamos que la dicha cabeza sea llevada a la Ciudad de los Reyes como ciudad mas principal destos Reinos, e sea puesta e clavada en el rollo de la dicha Ciudad con un retulo de letra gruesa que diga, Esta es la cabeza del traidor de Gonzalo Pizarro que se hizo justicia del en el valle de Aquixaguan, donde did la batalla campal contra el estandarte Real queriendo defender ;. No XIV.] APPENDIX. 519 su traicion e tirania ; ninguno sea osado de la quitar de aqui so pena de muerte natural : e mandamos que las casas quel dicho Pizarro tiene en la Cibdad del Cuzco scan derribadas por los cimientos e aradas de sal, e a donde agora es la puerta sea puesto un letrero en un pilar que diga : Estas casas eran de Gonzalo Pizarro las quales fueron man- dadas derrocar por traidor, e ninguna persona sea osado dellas tornar a hacer i edificar sin licencia expresa de S. M. so pena de muerte natu- ral : e condenamosle mas en perdimiento de todos sus bienes de qualquier calidad que scan e le pertenezcan, los quales aplicamos a la Camara e Fisco de S. M. e en todas las otras penas que contra los tales estan instituidas : e por esta nuestra sentencia definitiva juzgamos e asi lo pronunciamos 6 mandamos en estos escritos e por ellos. — Alonso de Albarado ; el Licd° Cianca. I > INDEX. VOL. II. INDEX. A. ABANCAY, river of, battle with Pe- ruvians at, i. 507. Battle between Almagro and Alvarado on, n. 97. Passage of, by Gasca, 404. Aborigines of North and South America, n. 245. Acosta, i. 82, note, 108, note. Adelantado, title of, given to Pizar- ro, i. 305. Relinquished by him to Almagro, 317. Adultery, punished with death by Peruvian laws, i. 44, note. Adventure, impulse given to, by im- provements in navigation, i. 187. Romantic character of, in the New World, 190. Perils attendant on, 191 . On ijie northern and southern continents of America, 192, 193. Agave Americana, i. 140. Agrarian law perfectly carried out in Peru, i. 49. Agricultural^ products, great variety of, in Peru, i. 138. Introduced into that country, 142, note. Agriculture, importance and excel- lence of Peruvian, i. 130-138. Supervised by the Inca himself, 131. In the valleys, 132, 364, 390, 513. On sides of the sierra, 133, 134,446. Aldana, Lorenzo de, 11. 358. Sent on a mission to Spain by Gonzalo Pizarro, 359. Takes sides with Gasca, 361. Despatched by him to Lima, 365. His proceedings there, 376. Almagrian faction, proceedings of, ii. 201. Driven from Cuzco, 202. At Lima, 205. Almagro, town of, i. 207. Almagro, Diego de, i. 207. His agreement with Pizarro and Lu- que, 209. Makes preparations for a voyage, 210. Sails from Pana- ma, 226. Loses an eye at Pueblo Quemado, 227. Meets Pizarro at Chicama, 228. Returns to Pana- ma, 229. Has a difficulty with Pedrarias, 230, 232. His inter view with him,. 233, note, Appen- dix, No. V. His- contract with Pizarro and Luque, 235, Appen- dix, No. VI. Unable to sign his name, 237. Sails with Pizarro, 241. Is sent back for reinforce- ments, 242. Rejoins Pizarro, 249. Sails with him along the coast, 252. Quarrels with him, 255. Returns to Panama for recruits, 256. Ill received there, 260.. Sends a letter to Pizarro, 262. Exerts himself in his behalf, 268. Urges his mission to Spain, 292. Honors granted by the Crown to, 306. Pizarro's neglect of the in- terests of, 308. His dissatisfaction with him, 315. Frank and gen- erous temper of, 208, 292, 316. Hernando Pizarro's jealousy of, 316, 465, 466. Remains at Pan- 524 INDEX. ama, to send supplies to Pizar- ro, 318. Joins him in Peru, 459. Cordially received by him, 461. Receives no share of the Inca's ransom, 472. Urges Atahuallpa's death, 479, 494. Felipillo hanged by, 497, note. Detached to aid D.e Soto, 509. Sent against Quiz- quiz, ii. 9. Follows Benalcazar to Quito, 17. Negotiates with Pe- dro, de Alvarado, 18. Goes to Cuzco, 25. Powers conferred on, by the Crown, 28. His elation, 31. His difficulties with the Pi- zarros, 34. Enters into a solemn compact with Francis, 35, Ap- pendix, No. XI. Sets out for Chili, 36. Difficulties of his march, 84, 85. Traverses the desert of Atacama, 89. Claims ju- risdiction over Cuzco, 91. Seizes the city, 93. Takes Gonzalo and Hernando Pizarro prisoners, 94. Refuses to put them to death, 95, 101, 102. Battle of Abancay, 97. Leaves Cuzco, 102. Has an in- terview with Pizarro, 104. Makes a treaty with him, 106. Retreats toward Cuzco, 109. His illness, 110, 118, 122. Pursued by Hernan- do Pizarro, 110. Battle of Las Sa- linas, 115-118. Taken prisoner, 119. Brought to trial by Herrian- do Pizarro, 123. Condemned to death, 124. Begs for his life, 125. Is executed in prison, 127. His character, 128 - 130. Almagro, the younger, his birth and character, n. 88, 177, 239. Named his successor by his father, 126, Pizarro's treatment of, 133. Pro- claimed governor of Peru, 186. Seizes the money of the Crown, 205. His reluctance to hostilities with the governor, 208. His diffi- culties with his followers, 210. Attempts to negotiate with Vaca de Castro, 213. Addresses his froops, 214. Leaves Cuzco, 216. Rejects the governor's terms, 223. Battle of Chupas, 228 - 234. His bravery, 232, 234: Taken prisoner, 236. Executed, 238. His Letter to Royal Audience, Appendix, No XII Alpacas. See Sheep, Peruvian. Alva, Duke of, n. 335, note. Alvarado, Alonso de, n. 22. Sent to the relief of Cuzco, 93. At Xauxa, 95. Highly trusted by the Pizarros, 95, note. Defeated and taken prisoner by Almagro, 97. Escapes from Cuzco, 103. At the battle of Las Salinas, 114. Informs Vaca de Castro of the state of Peru, 202. At the battle of Chupas, 232. Sent to Panama by Gasca, 351. Leads a force to Lima, 400. Alvarado, Diego de, brother of Pe- dro, n. 101. Befriends Hernando Pizarro, 102. Maintains the cause of Almagro in Spain, 137, 139. His death, 140. Alvarado, Garcia de, quarrels with Sotelb, ii. 210. Puts him to death, 211. Killed by Almagro, 211. Alvarado, Geronimo de, ii. 234. Alvarado, Pedro de, arrival of, in Peru, ii. 10, His terr$le passage of the Puertos Nevados, 12. Let- ter of, 15, note. Negotiates with Almagro at Quito, 18. Bonus paid to, 19, note. Visits Pizarro at Pachacamac, 21. His death, 22, note. Pizarro's letter to, 70. Alvarez, sent with Blasco Nunez to Spain, ii. 292. Liberates the vice- roy, 292. Amautas, Peruvian teachers, i. 117. Amazon, the river of, reached by Gon- • zalo Pizarro, ii. 162. Voyage of Orellana down, 163. Adventures of Madame Godin upon, 166, note. America, the name, i. 41, note. Ef- fects of discovery of, 1. 189. Ad- venture in, 190. - Northern and INDEX. 525 southern sections of, 193. Rapid exploration of the eastern coast of, 194. Anaquito, n. 308. Battle of, 310, 314, note. Andagoya, Pascual de, expedition of, i. 199. Memorial of his ad- ventures by, 200, note. His ac- counts of the Peruvian empire, 206, note. Pizarro learns his route from, 211. Andaguaylas, Gasca encamps at, n. 401. Andes, Cordillera of the, 1.5, nofe, 6. Cultivation of the sides of, 7, 134, 446. Salubrity of plateau of, 15. Conjectures respecting the origin of the name, 134. Pizarro's passage of, 382. Alvarado's passage of, n. 12-15. Anglo-Saxon race, objects sought by, in New World, 1.192. Adapt- ed to the North American conti- nent, 193. Annals, Peruvian, how kept and transmitted, 1. 11 8, 121, 123. Much tinged with fiction, 124. Apostles, the supposed authors of American civilization, r. 109, note. Apurimac, passage of, by Gasca's army, n. 407, 408. Aqueducts, Peruvian, i. 131, 132. Remains of, 133. Seen by Span- iards, 373, 390. Arch, use of, unknown to Peruvians, •i. 158. Architecture, illustrates national character, i. 155. Characteristics of Peruvian, 156-158. Inconsis- tencies in it, 159. Archives, Peruvian, how constituted, 1.119. Arequipa, Almagro arrives at, n. 89. Taken possession of by the Alma- grian faction, 201. Memorial of the Municipality of, 220, Appen- dix, No. XIII. Gonzalo Pizarro builds galleys at, 289. Retires to» from Lima, 379. Armour of the Peruvians, i. 73. Arms, used by Peruvians, i. 73, note, 11.47, note. Manufactured at Cuz- co by Almagro, 212 ; by Blasco Nunez, at Popayan, 303. Arms, family, of Pizarro, i. 310. Army, number of Pizarro's, I. 366. Gonzalo Pizarro's, n. 370. Arquebuse, astonishment of the Pe- ruvians at, i. 278. Art, specimens of Peruvian, i. 151. Artillery, park of, possessed by young Almagro, n. 215. Astrology, i. 129. Astronomy, Peruvian, i. 126-129. Inferior to that of other American races, 127. r*r' Atacama, desert of, crossed by Al- magro, ii. 89. Atahuallpa, i. 337. Receives half his> father's kingdom, 338. His restless spirit, 341. Makes war on his brother, 342. .Ravages Cana- ris, 343. Is victorious at Quipay- pan, 345. Takes Hiiascar prison- er, 346. Story of his cruelty, 347. Sole Inca of Peru, 350. S<*nds envoys to Pizarro, 369, 385, 387. His reception of Pizarro's messen- gers, 388, 395. H,is camp, 390. In- terview of Hernando Pizarro with, 397, 398. Visits Pizarro at Caxa- malca, 410. His interview with Valverde, 415. Taken prisoner, 422. Contemporary narratives of his seizure, Appendix, No. VIII. In captivity, 425-427, 435,454. His personal appearance, 426, 488. His treatment of the Christian reli- gion, 41 7, 436, 486. Oners a ransom, 432. Expects to recover his free- dom, 434, note. Puts Huascar to. death, 438. Accused of causing a rising of his subjects, 441. His interview with Challcuchima,453. State maintained by him, 454. 526 INDEX. His forebodings, 462. Refused his liberty, 474. Brought to trial, 480. Accusations against him, 481, note. Sentenced to be burned, 482. His emotion, 484. Led to execution, 485. Is baptized, 486. Perishes by the garrote, 487. Different accounts of his execution, Ap- pendix, No. X. His character, 488. Funeral obsequies, 489. His remains, 490. Reflections on the treatment of, 492. Opinions of chroniclers respecting it, 496. In- fluence of his death in Peru, 498. His successor, 500. Pedro Pizar- ro's account of his personal habits, Appendix, No. IX. Athenians, marriage custom of, i. 113, note. Audience, Royal, first appointment and purpose of, i. 196. Sent to Peru with Blasco Nunez, n. 255. Arrive at Lima, 277. Differ from the viceroy, 278. Threat- ened by him^ 281. Take him prisoner, 282. Send an embassy to Gonzalo Pizarro, 284. Resign their power into his hands, 286, 288, 290. Judges of, character- ized by Blasco Nunez, 316 note. Avila, Pedro Arias de, i. 197. Founds Panama, 198. Discover- ies made by, 199. Expeditions of, 205. Refuses to aid Almagro, 230. His intervie\t with him, Appendix, No. V. Resigns his interest in Pizarro's enterprise, 232. Subsequent fate of, 234. Aztecs, belief of, respecting the soul of the warrior, i. 32, note. Con- trast between the Peruvians and, 1.1. 5. B. Balances, of silver used by Peruvi- ans, i. 155. For weighing gold, found by Spaniards, 245. Balboa, Vasco Nunez de, discovers the Pacific, i. 194, 205. Hears of the Peruvian empire, 195. Quin- tana's account of, 197, note. Balsas, Indian vessels, i. 65, note. First seen by the Spaniards, 244, 245, note. Fleet of, 272. Banana, i. 139. Prolific nature of, 139, note. Banquet given to Pizarro by an Ind- ian princess, i. 287. Barco de Avila, birthplace of Gas- ca, ii. 337. Battles, of Pizarro with Indians, i. 225, 253. On the isle of Puna, 329. Of Ambato, 342. Of Qui- paypan, 345. Of Caxamalca, 419. Of the Abancay, 507. With Quizquiz, n. 10. On the Yucay, 46-48. At Cuzco, 60, 64, 72. At Tambo, 74. Of Abancay, 96, 97. Of Las Salinas, 116. Of Chupas, 230. Of Anaquito, 310. Of Huarina, 390. Of Xaquixa- guana, 419. Benalcazar conquers Quito, n. 16. Appointed governor of Quito, 22.. Goes to Castile, 135. Joins Vaca de Castro, 204. His advice to him, 204, note. Sent by him to Popayan, 216. Writes a letter to the emperor on the ordinances, 257, note. Takes sides with Blas- co Nunez, 294. Reinforces him, 303. Advises- against a battle with Gonzalo Pizarro, 307. Wounded and taken prisoner, 310. Re- stored to his government by Pi- zarro, 313. Joins Gasca's army, 401. Betel, chewing of, i. 140, note. Bilcas, Almagro halts at, n. 110. Biru river, accounts of Peru obtain- ed at, i. 206, note. Pizarro enters, 211. Body, the Peruvians believed in the resurrection of, i. 89. Embalm- ed by them, 90. INDEX. 527 Boiardo, quotation from, I. 265, note. Boundary, dispute respecting, be- tween Pizarro and Almagro, u. 92, note. Bovadilla arbitrates between Alma- gro and Pizarro, n. 103, 105, note. Bricks, manufacture and use of, in Peru, i. 156. Bridges, suspension, i. 64, 65, note, 503, n. 96. Constructed over the Apurimac by Gasca, 406-408, Buena Ventura, Vaca de Castro lands at, n. 202. Buildings, Peruvian, materials and construction of, i. 156, 373, 393, 447, 519. Adaptation of, to cli- mate, 159. Remains of, 160. Royal, at Quito, 169. Burial, i. 90. Of treasure and uten- sils with the dead, 90, 91, note. Burnt offerings, a form of sacrifice peculiar to the Peruvians, i. 92. C. Cacao, i. 251. Calatayud, emperor's court at, n. 27. Calendar, Peruvian, i. 126, 128. Of Muyscas, 127. Canares, ravage of, i. 343. " Candia, Pedro de, one of Pizarro Y thirteen companions, i 263. Vis- its Tumbez, 277. Fable concern- ing, 278, note. Accompanies Pizar- ro to Spain, 292. Rewarded by Charles, 306. Superintends the casting of cannon for Almagro, n. 212. Directs artillery at the bat- tle of Chupas, 228. Put to death by Almagro, 229. Canelas, or Land of Cinnamon, Gonzalo PizarroV expedition to, n. 154. Reached by him, 155. Cannibalism, not allowed in Peru, i. 105. Met with by Pizarro, 221. Cannon manufactured by young Al- magro at Cuzco, ii'. 212. Capac, Huayna, anecdote of, i. 50, note. Reign of, 333. Impression made on, by arrival of Spaniards, 334, 335. Posterity of, 337. His bequest of the crown, 338. His death, 338, note, 339. His liberal- ity to females, 339, note. His ob- sequies, 340. Capac, Manco, tradition respecting, i. 8, 12, note. Meaning of word, 9, note. Capitulation of Pizarro with the Crown, i. 305, 307, note, Appen- dix, No. VII. Almagro's dissatis- faction with the, 315. Capture of Atahuallpa, i. 421, 422, Appendix, No. VIII. Caraques, Alvarado lands at, n. 11. Caravantes, manuscript of, i. 239, note. Account of Gasca's instruc- tions by, ii. 341, note. Opportu- nities of information possessed by, 383, note. Carbajal, Francisco de, ii. 227. His early life, 228, 436. At the battle of Chupas, 231. Joins Gonzalo Pizarro, 270. Desires to leave Pe- ru, 271, 437, note. Urges Gon- zalo Pizarro to rebellion, 273. His cruelties at Lima, 285. Sur- prises Blasco Nunez, 296. Sent against Centeno, 302. His influ- ence with Pizarro, 317, 371. His fierce pursuit of Centeno, 320. Works the mines of Potosi, 321, 354. His extraordinary adven- tures, 321, note. Urges Gonzalo to cast off his allegiance, 323. His opinion of Gasca's letter, 367. , His sayings io Cepeda, 368, 374^ 376. His military skill, 371, 438. His practical philosophy, 378, 428, 434. His corps of musketeers, 387, 390. At the battle of Hua- rina, 388. Gains the victory for Pizarro, 393-395. His energy and activity, 410. Dissatisfied 528 INDEX. with Pizarro's conduct, 411. His counsel rejected, 412. Refused the defence of the Apurimac, 413. His eulogium on Valdivia, 421. Taken prisoner at Xaquixaguana, 429. His sarcasm on Centeno, 430. Sentenced to be drawn and quartered, 433. His indifference, 434. His caustic remarks, 434, 435. Executed, 435. His remark- able character, 435. Atrocities reported of him, 437. His hu- morous vein, 438. Carbajal, Suarez^de, assassinated by Blasco Nunez, 11. 279. Casques used by the Peruvians, i. 73, ii. 47. Castellan o, value of the, i. 467, note. Castes, division into, in Peru, i. 151. Favorable to dexterity in the arts, 151, note. Cataract of the Napo, n. 158. Causeways on the great Peruvian roads, i. 65, 513. Caxamalca, the Inca encamped at, i. 386,388. Hot-water springs at, 386. Valley of, 389. The Spaniards en- ter the city of, 392, 394. Descrip- tion of it, 393. Atahuallpa enters square of, 415. Attack on the Pe- ruvians at, 420. Capture, trial, and execution of Atahuallpa at, 426, 482, 487. Arrival of Almagro at, 461. Proceedings of Pizarro at, 500. He leaves it for Cuzco, 501. The rendezvous for Gasca's forces, ii. 375. Caxas, De Soto sent to, i. 369. His proceedings at, 372. Valley of, crossed by Blasco Nunez, ii. 297. Cement, of gold, i. 31, note. Used by the Peruvians, 157, note. Centeno, Diego, revolts against Gon- zalo Pizarro, n. 302, 319. Pur- sued by Carbajal, 320. Hides in a cave, 321. Seizes Cuzco, 369. Intercepts Pizarro, 384. Narrow escape of, at the battle of Huarina, 396. Carbajal's sarcasm upon, 430. His death, 447. Cepeda, ii. 278. Made head of Royal Audience, 283. Adheres to Gonzalo Pizarro, 290. Dic- tates the letter from Lima to Gasca, 360. Urges the rejection of Gas- ca's offers, 367. Accuses Carba- jal of cowardice, 368. One of Pizarro's generals, 371. His pro- cess against Gasca, 373. Addresses the citizens of Lima, 375. Deserts his commander at Xaquixaguana, 423. His reception by Gasca, 424. Arraigned for high treason in Castile, 446. Dies in prison, 446. Chain of gold of Huayna Capac, i. 336, note. Challcuchima, i. 342. At Xauxa, 451. Goes to Caxamalca, 453. His interview with Atahuallpa, 454. Accused by Pizarro, 477, 511. Brought to trial, 514. Burnt at the stake, 515. Charcas, reduced by Gonzalo Pizar- ro, ii. 136. He explores the sil- ver mines at, 258. Revolts from him, 319. Charles V., at Toledo, i. 302. Much interested in Pizarro, 303. Af- fected to tears by his narrative, 304. His Queen executes the capitulation with Pizarro, 305. Treasure sent home to, 465. Her- nando Pizarro's interview with, ii. 27. His grants and letter to the Conquerors, 28. His neglect of his Transatlantic possessions, 244. Returns to Spain, 250. Me- morial of Las Casas to, 251 . Sanc- tions the Ordinances, 256. Ap- points Blasco Nunez viceroy, 259. Writes a letter to Vaca de Castro, 260. In Germany, 334. Writes to Gasca confirming his appoint- ment, 341. Grants his request for unlimited powers, 344. Sends for INDEX. 529 him to come to Flanders, 462. His gracious reception of him, 463. Chasquis, Peruvian runners, i. 68, note. Chaves, Francisco de, n. 182. Chicama, l. 228. Chicha, a Peruvian drink, i. 387, 400, n. 4. Chili, Inca Yupanqui penetrates to, i. 14, 332. Almagro's expedition to, n. 83-88. The Men of, 137, 173. Valdivia sent to, 151. He returns from, 402. Chirnborazo, i. 6. First seen by Pizarro, 271. Battle at the foot of, 342. Chinese, establishment of posts among, i. 69, note. Chivalry, order of, in Peru, i. 20, 22. Christianity, resemblance to the rites of, in Peruvian customs, 1. 108,109. Attempts to convert Atahuallpa to, 416, 486. Efforts of mission- aries to convert the natives to, 11. 7,9. Chronology of the Peruvians, i. 126. Indifference of ancient chroniclers to, 2-17, note, 271, note. Chupas, plains of, n. 224. Battle of, 227, 230. Gonzalo Pizarro1 at, 274. Churches erected by the • Spaniards in Peru, i. 100, 471, n. 7, 25, 113, note. Cieza de Leon, .representations of Satan in the book of, i. 109, note. Critical notice of, n. 327. A valuable authority, 403, note. Civilization, origin of the Peruvian, i. 8. Marks of, in the Peruvian institutions, 40, 125, 146. Span- iards meet tokens of, 251, 270, 284. Climate, great varieties of, in Peru, i. 138. Cloth manufactured by the Peru- vians, i. 149, 245, 303. Coaque, Spaniards sack a village in, 1.320. VOL. II. 67 Coca, i. 140. Baneful effects of use of, 141, note, ii. 154, note. Code of laws for the colonies, n. 255, note. Colonial governments, character of the Spanish, i. 195. Colonial officers, policy of the Crown towards, i. 233. Colonies planted by Pizarro, i. 358, n. 24, 149. Columbus, error of, as to the nature of his discoveries, 1. 188. Jurisdic- tion of, in New World, 195. Commerce, not engaged in by the Peruvians,, i. 144, 154. Of an cient nations, 186. Of the Middle Ages, 187. Condor, i. 147,384, n. 15, 84. Conquerors of Peru, excesses com- mitted by, n. 40, 197, 247. Of a low- er stamp than those of Mexico, 246. Conquest of Mexico, History of, illus- trations of coincidences between Christian and pagan rites in, 1. 109, note. Conquests, of Huayna Capac, i. 14. Peruvian mode of dealing with, like Roman, 76. Manner of secur- ing, employed by Peruvian princes, 77-82. Account of the Inca's policy towards, Appendix, No. II. Conspiracy against Pizarro, n. 176. Contract between Pizarro, Almagro, and Luque, i. 235, Appendix, No. VI. Convents of Virgins of the Sun, i. 111. At Tumbez, 279. At Cax- amalca, 393. At Cuzco, 458, n. 41 , note. Escape the conflagration of Cuzco, 54. Broken into by the Spaniards, 247. Copper, instruments made of, i. 152. Coricancha, temple of the Sun, i. 95. Cortes, Hernando, prevented from accompanying Ojeda, i. 204. In Spain with Pizarro, 304.- Aids Pi- zarro, 313, n. 98. Example of, be- fore Pizarroj i. 331, 362,405, n. 195. 530 INDEX. Gotapampa, Gasca crosses the Apu- rimac at, 11 405. Cotopaxi first seen by the Spaniards, i. 271. Cotton, tunics of, i. 73, n. 231. Cultivation of, in Peru, 144. Sails made of, 244. Council' of the Indies, Pizarro eludes the search of, i. 314. Council, for government of the Peru- vian provinces, i. 42. Summoned by Philip II. to consider the state of the colonies, n. 335. Couriers, Peruvian, i, 68, 69, note, 434. Crime, punishment of, by the Peru- vians, i. 44, 46. Crown, Pizarro resolves to apply to the, i 290. Policy of the, 308. Efforts of the, to reform abuses in the colonies, n. 250, note. Crusader, religion of the, i. 192. Cubagua, Isle of, Orellana sails to, n. 164. Cupay, or evil principle, i. 89. Currency, ancient and modern value of, i. 467, note. Cuzco, valley of, source of Peruvian . civilization, i. 8. Meaning of word, 8, note. City of, 15, 518. Fortress of, 16, 17, note, 520. Tem- ple of the Sun at, 16, 95, 456, 522. Division of the city of, 41. The Peruvian Mecca, 100. Obsequies of Huayna Capac at, 340. Ata- huallpa's generals take possession of, 346. Atahuallpa orders gold from, 434. Emissaries sent to, by Pizarro, 442. Their accounts of, 456, 501. Their rapacious con- 'duct at, 458. Treasure obtained at, 458, 524. Pizarro's march to, 503. His entrance into, 517. De- scription of, 519. Manco crowned Inca at, 11. 4. Quarrel between Almagro and the Pizarros at, 34. Compact between him and Pi- zarro at, 35,. Manco escapes from, 45. Besieged by him, 51. Con- flagration of, 52. Distress of the Spaniards in, 57, 67. They attack the fortress of, 63. Chivalrous combats around, 72. Alrnagro claims jurisdiction over, 91. He seizes, 93. Conceded to him by Pizarro, 106. Almagro seized and imprisoned at, 119, 122. Con- demned and executed at, 124, 127. Pizarro enters, 134. Almagrian faction at, 201. Young Almagro seizes, 210. Marches from, 216. Vaca de Castro enters, 237. Al- magro executed at, 238. Gonz,alo Pizarro enters, 264. His proceed- ings there, 265. Musters forces at, 269. Leaves, 270. Centeno seizes, 369. Gonzalo Pizarro en- ters, 397. His careless life at, 410. Leaves for. Xaquixaguana, 415. Gasca takes possession of, 431. Executions at, 435, 441, 447. Gasca leaves, 448. Distribution of repartimientos at, 450. Mutiny of soldiers at, 453. P. Dancing, a favorite amusement of the Peruvians, i. 107. Dead, embalming of, I. 89. Burial of the, 90, 91,wo/e. Deities worshipped in Peru, i. 91, 92, 93. Deluge, tradition respecting the, i. 88, note. Despatches, addressed to the Court from the colonies, n. 415, note. Despotism, great efficiency of, in Peru, i. 18, 165. Its oppressive character, 166. Discovery, efforts in, by European nations, i. 1 87. Great object of, in fifteenth century, 189. Expedi- tions of, from Panama, 199. Ira pulse given to, by the conquest of INDEX. 531 Mexico, 200. Pizarro's first voy- age, 210. Uncertainty of the ob- jects of, 221. Divination by inspection of entrails, i. 106, note. Domestic animals, use of, in Peru, i. 146. Dramatic compositions of the Peru- vians, i. 125. Dress, of the Inca, i.25, 396, 414,455. Different races, under Peruvian empire, distinguished by, 82, note. Of the Inca sacred, 455. E. Ears, ornaments for, i. 22, note. Eating, habits and times of, among the Peruvians, i. 26, note. Eclipses not understood by the Peru- vians, 1. 130. Education, forbidden to the people in Peru, i. 116. Of the Inca blood- royal, 117. Schools and amautas, 118. Pizarro's want of, 203, 496, IT. 191, 200. Embalming, Peruvian process of, 1.33,90. Emeralds, used by the Peruvians, i. 152. River of, 252, Mines of, 252, note. Region of, 321. Broken by Spaniards, 321. Emigration to the New World, fever for, in Spain, i. 189, note, n. 30. Encouraged by the Spanish government, i. 307. Encampment of Atahuallpa, i. 395. Enciso, Bachelor, Pizarro imprison- ed by, i. 301. Epidemic, Spaniards attacked by an, i. 324. Equinoxes, how determined by the Peruvians, 1. 126. Importance of, lo them, 127. Ercilla, the Araucana of, n. 114, note. Escobar, Maria de, first introduced wheat into Peru, i. 142, note. Escutcheon of the Pizarro family, i. 310. Espinosa, Gaspar de, advances mon- ey for Pizarro's expedition, i. 239. His share of the Inca's ran- som, 472. Brings aid to Pizarro, ii. 97. Sent on a mission to Alma- gro, 99. His death, 100. Estete, i. 447, note. Europe, condition of, in the Mid- dle Ages, i. 187. Effect of the discovery of America upon, 189. Evil spirit, believed in by the Peru- vians, i. 89. F. Fairs, i. 137. Famine, sufferings of the Spaniards from, i. 213, 216, 219, 248, 261, n. 84, 157, 169, 297. Fanega, i. 48, note. Felipillo, Pizarro's interpreter, i, 288. His hostility to Atahuallpa, 426, 476. Intrigue of, 476, note. Perverts the testimony of witnesses against the Inca, 482. Hanged by Almagro, 497, note. » * Fernandez, loyalty of, n. 300, note. Remarks upon, 380, note. 'Critical notice of, 473. Festivals, religious, 1. 103. Feast of Raymi, 104-108. Fish brought from the Pacific to Cuzco by runners, i. 69, note. Forests, Spaniards entangled in, i. 214, 216, 247. Fornication, punishment of, in Peru, i. 44, note. Fortresses, massive work of, at Cuz- co, i. 17, 520. A part of the Peru- vian military policy, 19. For the accommodation of the Inca's ar- mies, 66, 74, note, 365. Seen by the Spaniards, 383, 393. Future life, Peruvian ideas respect- ing, i. 89. Intended only for the higher classes, 89, note. 532 INDEX. G. r*ti • Gallo, Isle of, Ruiz anchors at, i. 243. Pizarro lands at, 250. Spaniards left on, 256. Tafur arrives at, 262. Garcilasso de la Vega, not trustwor- thy in his geography, I. 4, note. Fulness of, 42, note. Authority of, contradicted, 93, note, 106, note. Critical notice of, 293. Defects of, as an historian, 335, note. Proba- bly imposed upon, 370, note. Fond of romancing, 422, note. A Peruvian by birth, 498, note. Is partial to Gonzalo Pizarro, u. 323, note, 362, note, 438, note. The fa- ther of, 389, note, 392, note, 424. An eyewitness of Gonzalo's proceed- ings in Lima. 398, note, 438, note. Gardens of Yucay, i. 30. Garrote, i. 486, note. Atahuallpa dies by the, 487. Gasca, Pedro de la, n. 336. Birth and early life of, 337, note. His able conduct at Valencia, 339. Appointed to the Peruvian mis- sion, 341. Demands unlimited powers, 342. Writes to the em- peror, 343. His request granted, 344. Refuses a mitre, 345. Ar- rives at Santa Martha, 346. Crosses to Nombre de Dios, 348. Politic conduct of, 349, 351. Gains over Mexia, 350. -Sends manifestoes through the land, 352. Sends to Gonzalo Pizarro, 353. Writes to him and Cepeda, 354, 355, note. Refuses to seize Hinojosa, 356. Gains over Aldana, 361. Re- ceives the fleet from Hinojosa, 362. Raises levies, 364. Con- demned by Cepeda, 373. Sails from Panama, 380. Quiets the apprehensions of the seamen, 381. Fixes his head-quarters at Xauxa, 383. His vigorous proceedings, 400. Marches to Andaguaylas, 401. Compliments Valdivia, 402. His army, 403. Crosses the Abati- cay and Apurimac, 404, 407, 408. Offers terms to Pizarro, 417. Ar- rives at Xaquixaguana, 418. His reception of Cepeda, 424 ; of Gon- zalo Pizarro, 427; ofCarbajal,430. Relacion of, 432, note. Enters Cuz- co, 447. His difficulties in mak- ing repartimientos, 449. Enters Lima, 453. His care of the na lives, 455. His wise reforms, 457. His wisdom and economy, 458. Refuses presents, 460. Leaves Peru, 461. Arrives in Spain, 462. Visits the emperor, and appointed bishop of Siguenza, 463. Dies, 464. His character, 465-468. Geography, knowledge of, by tthe Peruvians, i. 126. Causes of the slow advance in, 185. Of ancient nations, 186. Of Middle Ages, 187. Gnomon, used for determining the equinoxes, i. 126. In Florence, 127, note. God, elevated conceptions of, on the American continent, i. 87. See Religion. Gold, ornaments of, in the royal pal- aces, i. 29. Monopolized by the Inca, 31. Cement of, 31, note. In the temple of the Sun, 95. Ex- clusive use of, in the services of the Peruvian religion, 98. Con- cealed by the Peruvians, 99, 169, note, 450, 499. Ornaments of, at Quito, 151, note. Manner of pro- curing, 153, 154. The great object sought by the Spaniards, 191, 218, 221, 229, 498, H. 199, 247. Ob- tained by Pizarro, i. 201. Gained by the Spaniards, 221, 223, 227, 242, 321, 360. At Caxamalca, 430, 440, 467. At Pachacamac, 450. At Cuzco, 457, 458,525. Division of, 322, 479, 525, n. 451. Sent to Panami by Pizarro, i. 340. Sent to Spain, 465, n. 26, 137. Profusion of, among the Span- INDEX. 533 iards, i. 526, n. 150, 277. Carried home by Gasca, 458. Gomara, critical notice of, n. 325. Gomera, Isle of, i. 314. Granite, use of, in Peru, i. 156. Greeks, skilled in the art of naviga- tion, i. 186. Guaitara, passes of, n. 109. Guamanga, u. 222. Dead interred at, 235. Almagro's followers taken, tried, and executed at, 236, 237. Inhabitants of, take sides with Gon- zalo Pizarro, 274. Guancabamba, i. 373. Guano, account of, i. 135, 136. II. Haravecs, Peruvian poets, i. 123, note. Heir-apparent of Incas, education of the, i. 20 Insignia of the, 23. Hen-era, value of the testimony of, n. 134. Anachronisms of, exposed by Quintana, 306, note. Critical notice of, 325. Hinojosa, governor of Panama, n. 351. Suspicious of Gasca, 351. Surrenders the fleet of Pizarro to him, 362. Highly confided in by Pizarro, 366. Commands Gasca's army, 403, 419. Assassinated, 447. Holguin, Alvarez de, dispossesses the Almagrians of Cuzco, n. 202. His ealousy of Alvarado, 217. Rec- onciled to him, 218. Killed at Chupas, 232. Horse, terror of Indians at the, 1.254. Horsemanship, exhibition of, by De Soto, i. 399. Hoyas, i. 134. Huacas, i. 93, note. Huanacas. See Sheep, Peruvian. Huarina, battle at, n. 389, 393. i luascar, meaning of the word, i. 336, note. Heir of Huayria Capac, 338. Gentle disposition of, 340. Re- monstrates with Atahuallpa, 341. At war with Atahuallpa, 342. Defeated by him, 343. Battle of Quipaypan, 345. Taken prisoner by his brother, 346. His efforts to procure his liberty, 436. Put to death by Atahuallpa, 438. Huaura, n. 210. Vaca de Castro joins Aivarado at, 217. Hudibras, quotation from, i. 256, note. Human sacrifices, on the death of the Inca, i. 32, note. Evidence that they existed in Peru, 106, note. Humboldt, M. de, excellent descrip- tion of scenery of the Cordilleras by, i. 6, note. Account of Peruvian bridges by, 65, note. Analysis of Muysca calendar by, 128, note. Analysis of a Peruvian chisel by, 152, note. Hunts, great annual, i. 148, I. lea, Pizarro at, n. 110. Idleness punished as a crime in Peru, i. 53. Imagination, early and later works of, i. 184. Inca, the, meaning of the word, I. 9, note. Sceptre of, 19. Queen of, 19, note. Heir of, 20, note. Despot- ic power of, 18, 24, 114, 115, 165, 498. Elevated character of, 24, 435, 454. Dress and insignia of, 25, 396, 414, 455. Royal pro- gresses of, 27, Appendix, No. I. Palaces of, 28, 29. Household of, 30, 396. Wealth and revenues of, 31, 48. Obsequies of, 32. Sin- gular custom respecting the bodies of, 34, 35. Commanded armies, 74, 84. Reverence paid to, 166, 453, 498. Policy of, 168. Throne of, 414, 470. See Atahuallpa and Manco. 534 INDEX. Inca chief, visits Fizarro, i. 274. Bravery of an, n. 66. Inca nobility, i. 35. Little spoken of by chroniclers, 48, note. Ex- empt from taxation, 59. Impor- tance of, 166. Inca race, uncertainty as to the ori- gin and annals of, i. 13. Progress of, 14. Crania of, 39. Indians, Pizarro traffics with, i. 205. His intercourse with, 218, 223, 376. Battles with, 223, 225, 227, 329. Conversion of, 234, 307. Met by Ruiz, 244, 246. Hospitality of, to the Spaniards, 278, 282, 365. Their dread of the Spaniards, 324. Ef- forts of Las Casas in behalf of the, ii. 252. Ordinances in favor of, 254. Employed by Gonzalo Pi- zarro, 270, 289, note. Inns. See Tambos. Interpreters employed by Pizarro, i. 371, 399. Iron, not known to the Peruvians, i. 152, 275. Their substitute for, 153. Silver used instead of, by the Spaniards, 451. -t-.*j.ris v : Irrigation, admirable system of, among the Peruvians, i. 131, 364. Irving, Life of Balboa by, 1. 198, note. Isles of Pearls, i. 211. Pizarro sends Montenegro to, 216. Almagro touches at, 228. J. Jewels, i. 25, 35, 96, 104. Judea, laws of property of, com- pared with Peruvian, i. 47. Justice, provisions for the adminis- tration of, in Peru, i. 44. Mexi- can and Peruvian provision for, compared, 46. Its cheap and effi- cient administration, 47, note. K. Knighthood, Peruvian order of, i. 20,22 L. Labor, distribution and rotation of, in Peru, i. 56. Laboring classes, care for, under Pe- ruvian government, i. 56. Lands, remarkable division of, in Peru, i. 48. Cultivation of, 50. Language, Quichua dialect, i. 80, 124. La Plata, foundation of, n. 149. Takes sides with the Crown, 303. Carbajal at, 321. Las Casas, efforts of, in behalf of Indians, n. 252, 256, note. Las Salinas, Almagro's army takes position at, n. 111. Battle of, 113-118. Lasso used as a weapon by Peruvi- ans, n. 56. Laws, simplicity and severity of Pe- ruvian, i. 44. Passed by Vaca de Castro for the colonies, n. 241. Lawyers forbidden to go to the New World, i. 307. Lejesama, panegyric of, on Peruvian institutions, i. 171, note. Will of, quoted in Appendix, No. IV. Liberty, the great object sought by settlers in North America, i. 192. Lima, foundation of, n. 24. Pizar ro's zeal in building up, 37, 149, 171. Besieged by the Peruvians, 57, 68. Pizarro marches from, against Almagro, 98. Hernando leaves, for Spain, 138. Pizarro at, 149. Assassination of Pizarro at, 182-184. Taken possession of by the Almagrians, 201, 205. Vaca de Castro enters, 219. Blasco Nunez arrives at, 267. Arrival of the Royal Audience at, 277. Blas- co Nunez imprisoned at, 283. En- trance of Gonzalo Pizarro into, 287. His operations at, 289. He leaves, 295. His triumphal entry into, 318. He sends Aldana from, 359. Arrival of Paniagua at, 366. Proceedings of Gonzalo at, INDEX. 368, 370, 373. The president's fleet anchors at, 376. Departure of Pizarro from, 379. Taken pos- session of by Gasca, 380. His en- try into, 453. His proceedings at, 454,456. He leaves, 461. Linen, substitute for, 1. 144. Litter of the Inca, i. 26, 414. Llamas, i. 7. Appropriated to the Sun and the Inca, 51. Grants of, 51, note. Care of, 52. Use of, as beasts of burden, 145. Herds of, kept by government, 146. First seen by Pizarro, 273. Exhibited to the emperor, 303. Destruction of, by the Spaniards, 430, 11. 248. Im- mense flocks of, seen by them, i. 430, 458. Llorente, first publisher of Las Ca- sas's argument, n. 253, note. Loaysa, sent on an embassy to Gon- zalo Pizarro, n. 276. Luque, Hernando de, I. 208. Asso- ciated with Pizarro and Almagro, 209. Influences Pedrarias, 231. Administers the sacrament to his associates, 236. Epithet applied to, 237, note. Signs the contract for Espinosa, 239. Writes to en- courage Pizarro, 262. Pleads his cause with the governor, 268. Distrusts Pizarro, 292. Rewarded by the Crown, 306. His death, 472. Magazines, i. 57, 58. For military stores, 74, 373. Works of art found in, 151. Discovered and used by the Spaniards, 431, 447, 503, n. 400, note. Magistrates, Peruvian, stimulus to fidelity of, i. 42. Their character and authority, 43. Maize, cultivated and used in Peru, i 139. Liquor made from, 139, note. Fields of, seen by the Span- iards, 251, 364, 446. Mala, interview of Pizarro and Al- magro at, n. 104. Mama, Oello Huaco, i. 8. Meaning of word, 9, note. Manco, Inca, i. 337. Claims the pro- tection of Pizarro, 515. Crowned Inca by him, n. 3. Lofty spirit of, 41. Escapes from the Spaniards, 42. Retaken, 43. Escapes again, 45. Beleaguers Cuzco, 51. At- tacked at Tambo, 73. Defeated by Almagro, 91. Pursued by Orgo- nez, 101. His hostilities with the Spaniards, 146, 272. Pizarro attempts to negotiate with, 147 Death of, 271. His character, 272. Manes, wives and domestics sacri- ficed to, in Peru, i. 90. Manufactures, superintended by the Inca government, i. 53. Of cloths for the Inca, 53, note. Connection between agriculture and, 143. Ad- vantages for, in Peru, 144. Skill of the Peruvians in woollen, 149, 150. Stores of, found by the Span- iards, 431. Specimens of, sent to the emperor, n. 27. Manures used by the Peruvians, i. 135. Marmontel, i. WS^note. Marriage, Peruvian provisions for, i. 48, note. Of the Incas and nobles, 112. Of people, 113. No free- dom in, 114. McCulloh, error of, i. 11, note. On proofs of refinement in Peruvian institutions, 46, note. High au- thority of, on American antiqui- ties, 92, note. Mechanical arts in Peru, i. 52, 54. Memorials of colonial officers to the government, n. 250, note. Men of Chili, Pizarro cautioned against, n. 137. Destitute condi- tion of, 173. Conspire against Pi- 536 INDEX. zarro, 176. Assault him, 183. Put him to death, 184. Proceed- ings of, 185, 201. Attachment of, to young Almagro, 215. Severity of Vaca de Castro towards, 237. Mendoza, releases Hernando Pizar- ro, ii. 138. Prudent conduct of, in respect to ordinances, 269. Mexia, Hernan, governor of Nom- bre de Dios, 11. 348. His inter- view with Gasca, 349. Gives his allegiance to him, 350. Sent by Gasca to Hinojosa, 351. Mexicans, established currency among, i. 155. Middle Ages, geographical science in, i. 187. Military weapons and tactics of Pe- ruvians, i. 73. Expeditions, 74. Milk, use of, not known on the American continent, i. 145, note. Mines, working of, i. 31, 53, 54, note, 57, note. Exclusive property of the Incas, 54. Of Potosi, n. 136, 137, note, 258, 321. Minstrelsy, Peruvian national, i. 51, 123. Missionaries, 11. 7, 250. Twelve, commemorated by Naharro, 249, note. Mitimaes, i. 82, 83, note. Molina, Alonso de, visits Tumbez, i. 276. Is left there by Pizarro, 288. Money, use of, unknown to Peruvi- ans, i. 154. Montenegro sent for aid to Pana- ma, i. 216. Returns to Pizarro, 219. Rescues him from Indians, 225. Montesinos, critical notice of, n. 78. A poor authority, 113, note. Monuments of the dead, i. 90. Treasure concealed in, 91, note, 523. Moon, temple to, i. 97. Morales, Luis de, memorial of, n. 249, note. Morasses crossed by the Spaniards, i. 212, 214, 248. Morton, work of, on skulls, i. 39, note. Motupe, Pizarro halts at, i. 375. Mummies of Peruvian princes, i. 34, note, 523. Brought out at the coronation of Manco, n. 5. Muskets manufactured from the church-bells of Lima, 11. 276. Muyscas, astronomy of, i. 127. Piedrahita's account of, 128,, note. N. Naharro, i. 416, note. Napo, river of, discovered by Gon- zalo Pizarro, n. 157. His diffi- cult passage of, 159. Nasca, n. 110. Navigation, improvements in the art of, 1. 187. Of the first discoverers, 220. New World, emigration to, i. 189, note, ii. 30. Romantic adventure in, 1. 190. Nombre de Dios, Pizarro sails from, i. 301. Returns to, 314. Suffer- ings of Hernando Pizarro's fol- lowers at, n. 30. Blasco Nunez lands at, 260. Secured for Gon- zalo Pizarro, 322. Given up to Gasca, 350. Nunez Vela, Blasco, appointed vice- roy of Peru, ii. 259. Arrives at Nombre de Dios, 260. His high- handed measures, 261. Goes to Tumbez, 262. At Lima, 268. Determines to enforce the ordi- nances, 269. Confines Vaca de Castro, 275. Prepares for war with Gonzalo Pizarro, 276. As sassinates Carbajal, 279. His un- popularity, 280. Made prisoner by the Royal Audience, 282. Sent to Panama, 283. Escapes INDEX. 537 to Turabez, 293. Musters an ar- my, 294. Pursued by Gonzalo, 297, 298. Driven to Popayan, 303. Moves south, 305. Gives battle to Pizarro, 308. Defeated and killed, 310, 312. His charac- ter, 315. See Gonzalo Pizarro and Carbajal. O. Ojeda, Alonso de, i. 204. Olmedo^ Father, n. 206. Omens, at Feast of Raymi, i. 107. Seen in Peru on the arrival of the white men, 335. At Quito, n. 301 . Ondegardo, ingenious views of, re- specting the property laws of Peru, i. 61, note. Conscientiousness of, 68, note. Critical notice of, 177. Notice of, n. 374, note. Ordinances, code of, respecting Ind- ians, n. 254, 255, note. Blasco Nunez resolves to enforce, 268. Ore, Peruvian method of smelting, i. 154. Ore] ones, i. 22, note. Orellana, Francisco de, n. 160. Sails down the Napo, 161, 163. His extraordinary expedition down the Amazon, 164, 165, note. His death, 165. Orgoiiez, Rodrigo de, n. 87. Sent to seize the Pizarros, 93. Urges Almagro to behead them, 95, 101, 105. Wounded on the Abancay, 96. Pursues the Inca Manco, 101. His distrust of the Pizarros, 106. Commands Almagro's army, 109. At the battle of Las Salinas, 112. His bravery, 116. Killed on the field of battle, 117. Oriental nations, resemblance of, to the Peruvians, i. 143. Outrages perpetrated by the conquer- ors of Peru, n. 40, 247. > ^. - Oviedo, account of the Pizarros by, i. VOL. II. 68 311, 312, note. Copies Xerez, 387, note. Authority of, 491, note. Hardness of feeling shown by, 11. 86, note. Information of, 92, note. Critical notice of, 326 P. Pachacamac, Peruvian deity, i. 91. Meaning of the word, 91, note. Re- mains of the temple of, 11, note, 92, note, 443. Town of, 442. Her- nando Pizarro at, 447. He de- stroys idol at, 449. Festivities of Pizarro and Alvarado at, n. 21. Pacific Ocean first discovered, 1. 195, 205. Discoveries on coast of, 207. Pajonal, i. 384. Palaces of the Incas, i. 28. Account of, by Velasco, 28, note. At Bilcas, 29, note. At Yucay, 30. Paltos, desert of, crossed by Blasco Nunez, n. 228. Panama, founded, i. 198. Expedi- tions fitted out at, 199. Pizarro at, 201. Hitf first voyage from, 210. Almagro sails from, 226. Returns to, 230. Pedro de lo» Rios governor of, 233. Contract for discovery made at, 235. Pizar- ro's second voyage from, 241 . Al- magro returns to, 249, 260. Tafur sent from, 261. Pizatro returns to, 288. Sails to Spain from, 292. His final departure from, 319. That of Almagro, 461 . Followers of Hernando Pizarro at, n. 31. Pi- zarro sends to, for aid, 70. Espino- sa leaves, 98. Vaca de Castro sails to, 293. Hinojosa, Pizarro's gov ernor at, 322, 350. Gasca at, 355. Fleet surrendered to him at, 362. He sends Aldana from, 365. He sails from, 380. His narrow es cape at, 461. Paniagua, sent to Gonzalo Pizarro with despatches, n. 366. 538 INDEX. Papa, use of word, i. 9, note. Pastes, Blasco Nunez at, 11. 301. Payta, i. 282. Pearls, Peruvians not allowed to fish for, i. 152, note. Collected by Pi- zarro, 205. People, Peruvian distribution of, i. 42, 43. Burdens laid upon, 59. Condition of, 60, 62, 117. Re- gard for, in the Peruvian laws, 167. National character of, 171, 173. Peru, extent of, at time of the con- quest, i. 4. Topographical aspect of, 5. Coast of, 6. Probable origin of the empire of, 12. Uncertainty of early history of, 13, note. The name, 40, 41, note. Division of the empire of, 41, 43. The Spaniards first hear of, 194. Rumors about, 200, 218, 228. Expedition for the discovery of, 201. Pizarro learns of the empire of, 285, 355, 360, 374. His ideas about, deemed visionary, 289. History of, previous to the conquest, 332. Pizarro marches into, 363. State of, on the death of the Inca, 499. The Spaniards com- plete masters of, n. 4, 40, 143. Dis- orderly state of, 143, 246. Com- motion produced in, by the ordi- nances, 262, 269. Gonzalo Pizarro master of, 321. Reduced to a state of tranquillity by Gasca. 458. Peruvian institutions, artificial char- acter of, i. 40. Adapted to the people's character, 62. Reflections on, 160. Compared with Aztec, 161. Resemblance of, to those of Eastern Asia, 164, 165, note, 175. Opinions of early Span- iards respecting, 170. Compared with those of United States, 172. Good results of, 174. Peruvians, political condition of, i. 42, 48, 50,56, 60,62. Military pro- visions of, 75. Religion of, 87. Education of, 116. Agriculture of, 130. Mechanical skill of, 150. Refinement of the intellectual char- acter of, 125. Mind of, imitative, not inventive, 152. First inter- course of, with Spaniards, 273. Pi- zarro's policy towards, 357. Their kind treatment of the Spaniards, 365. Massacre of, at Caxamalca, 420, 424. Excesses of, on the Inca's death, 499. Battle of Soto with, 507. Mild and submissive character of, n. 5, 39. Efforts to Christianize, 8, 249. Outrageous treatment of, by the Spaniards, 40, note, 197, 245, 246. Rise against Pizarro, 42. Attack Juan Pizarro, 47. Besiege Cuz- co, 49. Set fire to the city, 51. Use Spanish arms, 60, 61. Cut off supplies from Pizarro, 69. Withdraw from Cuzco, 71. Chiv- alrous contests with the Spaniards, 72. Defeat them at Tambo, 74. Battle of, with Almagro, 91. Watch the battle between the Spanish armies, 112. Efforts of Gasca in behalf of, 455. Peso de oro, value of, i. 467, note. Peso ensayado, value of, n. 451, note. Petition of the Indians for immuni- ties, i. 349, note. Picado, Pizarro's secretary, u. 175. Insults the men of Chili, 176. Discloses their conspiracy to Pizarro, 178. Thrown into pris on, 185. Put to the torture, 205 Beheaded, 206. Pits employed in Peruvian hus- bandry, 1. 134. Pizarro, Francisco, i. 201 . His birth and early life, 202, 203. At His- paniola,204. Employed by Pedra- rias, 205. Accompanies him to Panama, 206. Associates himself with Almagro and Luque, 208 Sails on his first expedition, 210. His difficulties, 213. His courtesy, INDEX. 539 215, 226. Encounters the natives, 218, 223. His dangerous adven- ture, 225. Lands at Chicama, 226. Distrusts Almagro, 232, 255. His famous contract with Almagro and Luque, 235, Appendix, No. VI. Sails on his second voyage, 241. Lands his forces, 243. Marches into the country, 247. His suf- ferings and losses, 248. Receives brilliant accounts from Ruiz, 249. Sails along the coast, 250. Sees proofs of wealth and civilization, 252,254,284. Quarrels with Alma- gro, 256. On the Isle of Gallo, 260. Ordered to return to Panama, 261. Draws the line on the sand, 263. Abandoned with thirteen com- panions, 266. Vessel sent to him, 269. Sails south, 270. At Tum- bez, 272. His intercourse with the natives, 273, 275, 278, 281, 283. Suffers from tempests, 282. Re- ceives distinct accounts of the Pe- ruvian empire, 283. Entertained by an Indian princess, 287. Re- turns to Panama, 288. Coldly received by the governor, 290. Sets out for Spain, 293. His reception there, 301. Inter- view with Charles V., 303, Capitulation with the Crown, 305, Appendix, No. VII. His greedi- ness of honors, 308. Visits his family, 311. Sails from Seville, 313. Arrives at Panama, 314. His difficulty with Almagro, 316. Fits out vessels, 318. Sails for the conquest of Peru, 319. Lands on the coast, 320. Plunders an Indian town, 321. His exhausting march, 324. Reaches Puerto Viejo, 325. At the Isle of Puna, 329. Receives reinforcements, 330. Learns the state of the Peru- vian empire, 331, 360. Crosses to Tqmbez, 352. Marches into the country, 356. His liberal policy towards the natives, 357. Founds San Miguel, 359. His designs, 361. Sets out for Caxamalca, 363. His firmness and courage, 364, 378,402. Stops disaffection in his army, 367. Receives envoys from the Inca, 369, 385, 387. His mes- sage to him, 371. Continues his march, 375. His anxieties, 376. Sends an envoy to Atahuallpa, 377. His stirring eloquence, 379. Crosses the Andes, 382. Distrusts the Inca's designs, 389. His first view of Atahuallpa's camp, 390. Enters Caxamalca, 393. Reani- mates his followers, 400. His daring plan, 405. Prepares for Atahuallpa's reception, 408, 409. Urges his entrance into the town, 412. Gives the signal of attack, 419. Protects Atahuallpa's life, 421. Takes him prisoner, 423. Entertains him after the battle, 425. Pays him every attention, 426, 435. Addresses his troops, 428. Releases his Indian prisoners, 429. Sends for reinforcements, 431. Accepts the Inca's offer of ransom, 434. Endeavours to convert him, 436. Sends Hernan- do to Pachacamac, 442. Hears ac- counts of Cuzco, 456. Receives a reinforcement with Almagro, 460. Sends Hernando to Spain with treasure, 465. Melts down the gold, 469. Divides it, 470. Equity of his division, 473. Refuses to liberate Atahuallpa, 475. Ac- cuses him of treason, 477. Ap- prehensions of the Peruvians, 479. Brings the Inca to trial, 481. Consents to his execution, 485. Goes into mourning for him, 489. Upbraided by De Soto, 491. His responsibility, 493, 495. Story of his ignorance, 496. Appoints a new Inca, 500. Sets out for Cuzco, 501. Arrives at Xauxa, 540 INDEX. 505. Charges Challcuchima with conspiracy, 511. Condemns him to the stake, 514; and executes him, 515. Receives prince Manco, 516. Enters Cuzco, 517. Forbids dwellings to be molested, 522. Is disappointed in the amount of treas- ure, 524. Crowns Manco, n. 4. Organizes a government for Cuzco, 5. Attends to religious interests, 7. Sends Almagro against Quiz- quiz, 9. Learns the arrival of Alvarado, 10. His interview with him at Pachacamac, 21. Founds Lima, 24. Grants to him from Charles confirmed, 28. Checks a feud between his brothers and Almagro, 34. Enters into a com- pact with Almagro, 35, Appen- dix, No. XI. Establishes settle- ments, 37. His treatment of Manco, 41. Repels the Peruvians from Lima, 68. His anxiety about Cuzco, 69. His letters for aid, 70. At Lima, 97. His controversy with Almagro, 98. Negotiates with him, 99, 103, 106. His treachery towards him, 108, 131. Sends Hernando against him, 110. Hears of his death, 132. Affected by it, 133. Instructions to his brother about it, 134. His partial- ity to his own family, 136. His deference for Hernando, 142. His unlimited authority in Peru, 143. His troubles with the Indians, 146, 148. His cruelty to Manco's wife, 147. Founds Arequipa, 149. Appoints Gonzalo governor of Quito, 151. His treatment of the Almagrian faction, 172. Con- spiracy against him, 176. Dis- closed to him, 178. His indif- ference, 179. Attacked in his house, 181. Killed, 184. Treat- ment of his remains, 187. His descendants, 188. His personal appearance, 189. His want of education 191, 192, note. His courage, 193. His inflexibility, 194. His perfidy, 196. His treat- ment of Indians, 197. His want of religion, 198. His ruling mo- tives, 199. Pizarro, Gonzalo, i. 311. At the,- siege of Cuzco, n. 59, 75. Con- fined there by Almagro, 94, 102. Makes his escape, 103. At the battle of Las Salinas, 115. Sent to Charcas, 136. Early life and character of, 151. Appointed gov- ernor of Quito, 153. His expe- dition to the "Land of Cinna- mon," 154. Reaches the Ama- zon, 162. Reassures his follow- ers, 367. His generous spirit, 168. Returns to Quito, 169. Learns the assassination of his brother, 171. Offers his services to Vaca de Castro, 221. Goes to Lima, 239. Summoned to Cuzco, 240. Withdraws to La Plata, 240. Works the mines of Potosi, 258. Appealed to against the viceroy, 258, 263. Repairs to Cuzco, 264. Obtains military command) 265. Musters an army, 270. Leaves Cuzco, 271. Favored by the peo- ple, 274. Approaches Lima, 284. Enforces his demands on the Au- dience, 285. His letter to Valdi- via, 286, note. Enters Lima in triumph, 287. Proclaimed gov- ernor of Peru, 288. His pro- ceedings at Lima, 289. Marches against Blasco Nunez, 295. Pur- sues him to Quito, 297-301. His stratagem, 304. Battle of Anaqui- to, 309. His clemency to his pris- oners, 313. His ideas respecting battle, 314, note. His mild admin- istration, 317. His triumphal pro- gress to Lima, 318. State assumed by him, 322. Hesitates to throw off his allegiance, 324. Commu- nications to him from Gasca, 353. JNDP;X 541 His anxiety, 357. Sends Aldana to Spain, 358. His opinion of Gasca, 358, note, 360, note. His bold self-confidence, 367. Rejects Gasca's offers, 368. Prepares his forces, 370. His trust in Carba- jal, 371. His change of temper, 372. Leaves Lima, 378. His dis- tress, 378. Marches to Arequipa, 379. Resolves to retire into Chili, 383. Arrives at Huarina, 385. Battle of Huarina, 390. His dan- gerous situation, 392. His victory, 395. Marches to Cuzco, 397. His careless indifference, 41 0. Rejects Carbajal's advice, 412. Takes position at Xaquixaguana, 415. Sends spies to Gasca's camp, 417. Prepares for battle, 421. His fine appearance, 422. Desertion of his followers, 423-425. Surrenders himself prisoner, 426. His inter- view with Gasca, 427. Sentenced to death, 433, Appendix, No. XIV. His execution, 440-442. His character, 444. Pizarro, Hernando, i. 311. Char- acter of, 312. Accompanies his brother, 314. His hostility to Al- magro, 316, 465. Is wounded, 330. Rescues Spaniards at Tum- bez, 352. Accounts of Atahuall- pa obtained by, 377. Sent on an embassy to him, 394. Interview with him, 398, 399, note. Recon- noitres the country, 442. Sent to Pachacamac, 443. Forces open the temple, 448. Destroys the idol, 449. Brings Challcuchima to Pi- zarro, 453. Sent with treasure to Spain, 465. Kindness towards Ata- huallpa, 478. Arrives at Seville, ii. 26. Interview with the emper- or, 27. Rewards conferred on him, 28. Fits out an armament, 30. Arrives at Panama, 31. Govern- or of Cuzco, 44. Suffers Manco to escape, 45. ^ Besieged in CUZCQ, 49-71. Attack of the fortress, 65. Repulsed at Tambo, 75. Taken prisoner by Almagro, 94. His danger, 95, 101, 103. Set at liberty, 106. His pursuit of Alma- gro, 110. Battle of Las Salinas, 114. Takes Almagro prisoner, 119. His perfidy towards him, 122, 123. His interview with him, 125. Puts him to death, 127. His warn ings to his brother, 137. Embarks for Spain, 138. Coldly received at Court, 139. Imprisoned for twenty years, 140. His release and death, 141. His remarkable character, 142. Pizarro, Juan, made Regidor of Cuzco, ir. 5. Sent in pursuit of Manco, 45. At the battle of Yu- cay, 46. Entangled in the moun- tains, 48. Leads the attack on the fortress at Cuzco, 62. Is killed, 64. Pizarro, Pedro, his ignorance of Pe- ruvian institutions, i. 173, note. Critical notice of, u. 76. Loyal- ty of, 289, not e. Life of, spared by Carbajal, 437, note. Pizarro y Orellana, Memorial of, n. 188. Plough, Peruvian substitute for, i. 136. Plutarch, i. 107, note. Poetry and poets in Peru, i. 123. Poor, anecdote respecting the culti- vation of the lands of, i. 50, note. Provisions for, under the Peruvian government, 61,nofc. Popayan, Vaca de Castro arrives at, ii. 202. Benalcazar governor at, 216. Blasco Nunez retreats to, 303. He abandons, 305. Porphyry used as a building materi- al by the Peruvians, i. 156. Portugal, efforts of, in the cause of discovery, i. 188. Posts, Peruvian system of, i. 67. Houses for, 68, note, 503. System of, in Eastern nations, 60, note. 542 INDEX. Potato, cultivated in Peru, i. 141, 248, 251. Unknown in Mexico, 141, note. Potosi, hills of, given to Gonzalo Pizarro, n. 136. Discovery of mines of, 137, note. Mines of, worked by Pizarro, 258 ; by Car- bajal, 321. Immense riches drawn from, 321, note. Poverty, unknown in Peru,i. 61,170. Present sent to Pizarro by Atahu- allpa, i. 369, 385. Priesthood, Peruvian, i. 101. How composed, 102. How supported, 102, note. Duties of, 103. See Religion. Progresses, royal, of the Incas, i. 27, Appendix, No. I. Property, regulation and distribution of, in Peru, i. 47-57. Provinces, Peruvian, I. 36, 42. Puelles joins Gonzalo Pizarro, n. 274. Left by him at Quito, 304, 318. Puerto de la Hambre, i. 220, 227. Puerto de Pinas, i. 211. Puerto Viejo, the Spaniards reach, i. 325. Puna, Isle of, Pizarro arrives at, i. 326. Battle with the inhabitants of, 329. Warriors of, check Ata- huallpa, 344. Punta de Pasado, Ruiz reaches, i. 246. Punta Quemada, i. 222. Queen of the Inca, i. 19, note. • Quichua dialect, i. 124. Quintana, account of Balboa by, i. 197, note. Impartiality of, 497, note. Quipaypan, battle of, i. 345. Quipueamayus, i. 58, 119. Quipus, i. 55, 118. Uses of, 119, 120. Defects of, as a symbol of thought, 121. Skill of the Peru- vians in the use of, 119, 123. Pres- ent use of, 120, note. Resemblance of, to wampum, 122, note. Quito, elevation of the plains of, i. 7, note. Subjection of, 79, note. Conquest of, by Huayna Capac, 219, note, 333. Reached by Pi- zarro, 252. Kingdom of, given to Atahuallpa, 338. Atahuallpa's re- mains carried to, 490. Alvarado's march to, n. 12-14. Benalcazar seizes, 16. Almagro arrives at, 17. Gonzalo Pizarro appointed governor of, 151. He arrives at, 153; leaves, on his expedition to the Amazon, 154. His return to, 169. Vaca de Castro at, 204. Blasco Nunez marches to, 294. He is pursued to, by Pizarro, 301. Gonzalo Pizarro at, 302. He leaves, 304 ; and reenters, 305. Blasco Nunez at, 308. Pizarro's proceedings at, 313, 317. He leaves, 318. Quixos, territory of, n. 154. Quizquiz, i. 342. His battles with Almagro, n. 10. Put to death bv his own soldiers, 10 R. Rada, Juan de, heads the conspiracy against Pizarro, n. 178. Saying of, 180. At Pizarro's assassina- tion, 184. Chief counsellor of young Almagro, 205. Death of, 209. Rainbow, worshipped by the Peruvi- ans, i. 93, 97. Ransom of Atahuallpa, i. 432, 467. Raymi, Feast of, i. 103. Registers, statistical, kept by the In- ca, i. 54, 58, 119. Religion, revenues for the support of, in Peru, i. 47. A pretext for war, 71. Of foreign nations, how INDEX. 643 treated by the Peruvians, 77, 94. Provisions for, among Indian na- tions, 87. The basis of the Inca government. 88. Peruvian ideas of God, 91. Worship of the sun and moon, C2. Inferior deities, 93. Only precious metals used for the purposes of, 98. Temples of, 100. Ministers of, 102. Festivals of, 103. Cruelties practised in the name of, 192. Of the Conquerors, 408, 416, 427, 432, 449, 486, 514, ii. 8, 249. Religious men, Pizarro bound to take with him, i. 307. Remains, of Peruvian architecture, i. 20, note, 118, note. Of Peruvian industry, 62. Of aqueducts, 132. Repartimientos made by Pizarro, n. 37, 136. Ordinances respecting, 254. Distribution of, by Gasca, 451, 459. Resurrection, Peruvian belief in, 1.89. Retreat of Blasco Nunez, 11. 303, note. Of Diego Centeno, 320. Revenues of the Inca, from lands, i. 48. From herds and manufac- tures, 51, 52. From mines, 53. Rios, Don Pedro de los, governor of Panama, i. 233. Favors Almagro, 249. Orders Pizarro to return, 261. His anger at his refusal, 268. Ruins on the borders of Lake Titi- caca, i. 11, 13, note. Ruiz, Bartholomew, i. 242. Ex- ploring voyage of, 243. Discoveries of, 246. Goes with Pizarro, 267. Returns to Panama, 266. Ac- companies Pizarro on his southern voyage, 270. Honor conferred on, by the Crown, 306. S. Sacrifices, of wives and domestics on the tombs of nobles, i. 90, 489. Of burnt offerings, 92, 107. Human, rare in Peru, 105. At the Feast of Rayrni, 106, 107. Sancho, Pedro, high authority of, i. 517, note, San Juan, Rio de, Spaniards land at, i. 242. Almagro returns to, 249. San Lucar, Gasca embarks at, n. 346. San Miguel, origin of the name, I. 329, note. Founded by Pizarro, 359. He marches from, against Atahuallpa, 363. Almagro arrives at, 459. Benalcazar made gov ernor of, n. 16. Santa, port of, i. 284. Place where Peruvian mummies w< served, 285. Santa Clara, Isle of, I. 271. pre Refuses to aid the confederates, j Santa Cruz, Pizarro visits an Indian 290. Roads, in Peru, i. 62. From Cuzco to Quito, 63-66, 373, 378, 444. Description of, by a Spaniard, 64, note. Care of, 66. Remains of, 67. Military uses of, 70. Mac- adamized, 158, note. Sarmiento's account of, Appendix, No. II. Traversed by Pizarro, 502; by Almagro. n. 83. Robertson, manuscript of, i. 17, note. Romans not a maritime nation, 1. 186. Room, where Atahuallpa was con- fined, i. 434, note. princess at, I. 286. Santa Martha, i. 314. Gasca lands at, ii. 346. Santiago, order of, conferred on Fran- cisco Pizarro, i. 310; on Hernan- do, ii. 28. Santiago, Rio de, northern limit of Almagro's jurisdiction, n. 91. Sarabia, ingenious device of, i. 258. Sarmiento, high authority of, i. 79, note. Critical notice of, 175. Satan believed by chroniclers to counterfeit rites of Christianity, i. 108, note. 544 INDEX. Saxon law of hundreds and tithings, i. 43, note. Science, engrossed by the amautas, i. 117. The Peruvian mind not adapted to, 125. Modern, superior to ancient, 183. Progress of, com- pared with that of the fine arts, 184. Sculpture, remarkable specimens of, i. 153. Sechura, desert of, crossed by Pizar- ro, i. 282. Seneca, remarkable prediction of, i. 186, note. Seville, almost depopulated by emi- gration, i. 189, note. Pizarro ar- rives at, 301. He sails from, 314. Hernando Pizarro reaches, u. 26. Gasca returns to, 467. Sheep, Peruvian, 1. 144. The llama, 145. Alpacas, 146. Huanacas and vicunas, 147. Mode of taking, 148. Wool of, 149. See Llaina. Silver, exclusively used in worship of the moon, i. 97. Twelve vases of, 98, note. Mines of, at Porco, 154. Used for shoeing horses, instead of iron, 452. Mines of, at Potosi, n. 136, 137, note, 258, 321, note. City of, 149. Mingled with copper in making arms, 212. A vessel laden with, sent to Spain, 260. Slavery of Indians, laws respecting, u. 254. Abolished by Gasca in Peru, 456. Sora, an intoxicating liquor, i. 139. note. Sotelo, Christoval de, n. 209. His jealousy of Alvarado, 210. As- sassinated by him, 211. Soto, Hernando de, i. 330. Sent to Caxas, 369, 372. Goes on an embassy to Atahuallpa, 394. Exhibition of horsemanship by, 399. Friendly to Atahuallpa, 474, 491. Sent to Guamachucho, 480. Reproves Pizarro, 491. Entangled in the sierra, 507. His battle with the Indians, 507. i Soul, separate existence of, believed in by the Peruvians, i. 89. Southey, epitaph on Pizarro by, n. 199, note. Spain, one of first nations in making discoveries, i. 188. Emigration from, to the New World, 189. Colonial domain of, 195. Pizarro goes to, 301. Hernando Pizarro in, u. 26, 139. Commotion pro- duced in, by Gonzalo Pizarro's rebellion, 334. Spaniards, in the New World, 1. 190, 193. Hear rumors of Peru, 194, 200, 228, 289. Omens and prod- igies respecting, 335, 336, 462 Unwillingness of, to engage with Pizarro, 210, 240, 260, 313, 318. Sufferings of, 213, 216, 219, 248, 261, 323, n. 30, 158, 162, 160, 299. Losses of, i 217, 240,248, n. 169. Discontent and murmurs of, 1.215, 287, 366. Battles of, with the na- tives, 225, 329, 419, 506, n. 10, 46, 56, 60, 64, 72, 74, 91. Impressions produced by, in Peru, i. 272, 283, 330, 336. Division of treasure among, 322, 471, 525. Anxiety of. 355. Pleasant march of, 365. Number of, with Pizarro, 366. Their enthusiasm, 379. Their se- vere march over the Andes, 382. Their entrance into Caxamalca, 392. Their gloomy forebodings, 401. Pizarro's address to, 402. Their religious enthusiasm, 402, 409, 511. Their attack on Atahu- allpa, 419. Their rapacity, 458. Atahuallpa's impression respect- ing, 481. Their march to Cuzco, 502. Enter Cuzco, 517. Effect of wealth on, 526. With Al- varado, n. 12. Cruelty of, to the natives, 40, 85, 246. At the siege of Cuzco, 52, 56, 67. Desire to abandon the city, 57. On the Chili expedition, 84, 89. Their battles among themselves, 116, INDEX. 545 230, 310, 390. On the Amazon expedition, 154, 156. Their deep feelings of loyalty, 205. Attached to young Almagro, 215. Their passion for gold, 247. Their improvidence, 248. Thrown into consternation at the ordinances, 256, 262. Appeal to Vaca de Castro against them, 257 ; and to Gonzalo Pizarro, 258, 263. Take sides with Gonzalo, 274. Influ- ence of Gasca's proclamation on, 365. Desert from Gonzalo Pi- zarro, 377, 420. Their discontent with the repartimientos, 453. See Gold and Peruvians. Spanish colonies, the mode of their acquisition, unfavorable to the in- terests of the natives, n. 245. Springs of warm water at Caxamalca, i. 386. Stars, objects of Peruvian worship, i. 92, 97. Stevenson, description of the River of Emeralds by, i. 252, note; of Caxamalca, 392, note. St. Matthew, Bay of, Ruiz enters, i. 243. Pizarro reaches, 251. He disembarks his forces at, 319. Stone, tools made of, 1. 152. Sun, tradition respecting, i. 8. Temple of, at Cuzco, 16, 95, 456, 522. Lands assigned to, 47. Peculiar sanctity of, 92, 94. Tem- ples of, 95, 96, 99, 101. Virgins of, 100, 107, 112. See Religion and Temples. T. Tacamez, i. 251. Touched at by Pizarro, 270. Tacitus, i. 43, note. Tambo, the Royal buildings at, i. 31, note. The Inca Manco at, n. 71. Attacked by Hernando Pi- zarro, 73. Tambos, or inns, i. 27. Tangarala, settlement made at, i. 358. Almagro's camp at, n. 109. Tempests suffered by Spaniards, i. 213, 222, 250, 282. Temples, to Pachacamac, i. 91, 92, note, 447, 448. To Thunder and Lightning, 92. To the Rainbow, 93. Of the Sun, 16, 95, 322, 456. Of inferior deities, 100. Ternaux-Compans, elegance of his translations, n. 79. Terraces on theCordilleras, i. 7, 133. Theatrical exhibitions in Peru, 1. 125. Theft, punishment of, in Peru, i. 44, note. Thirteen companions of Pizarro, i. 263, 306. Thought, symbols for the expression of, i. 122. Thunder, Peruvian word for, i. 92, note. An object of worship in Peru, 92, 97. Time, Peruvian method of measur- ing, i. 126. Titicaca lake, i. 8. Ruins on the bor- ders of, 11, 13. Centeno encamps on the borders of, 369. Gonzalo Pizarro approaches, n. 385. Bat- tle ofHuarinaon, 389. Titicussi, Memorial of, n. 423, note. Tobacco, cultivation of, 1. 140. Toledo, Pizarro visits the emperor at, i. 302. Tomebamba, Blasco Nunez passes through, n. 301. Tools, of the Peruvians, i. 152, note. Toparca, Inca, crowned by Pizarro, i. 500. Death of, 512. Traditions, respecting the origin of the Peruvian empire, i. 8. Puerile character of, in Peru, 88. Re- specting a hidden treasure at Cuz- co, 160, note. Treachery, commonness of, among the Conquerors, n* 275. Treasure, found in Peruvian monu- ments, i. 90, 91, note. Hidden at Cuzco, 160, note. Sent by Pizarro VOL. II. 69 546 INDEX. to Panama, 322. Relinquished by the Spaniards, 360. Division of, 467, 470, 471. Shown by Manco to Hernando Pizarro, n. 45. See Gold. Tribunals, account of Peruvian, very meagre, i. 44, note. See Justice. Trinity, Peruvian knowledge of, in- ferred, i. 92, note. Truxillo, Pizarro's native place, i. 311. Visited by him, 312. Truxillo, in Peru, foundation of, n. 37. Besieged by the Peruvians, 57. Gonzalo Pizarro musters his forces at, 295. Reception of Al- dana at, 374 ; of Gasca, 382. Tumbez, natives of, seen by Ruiz, i. 246. Visited by Pizarro, 272. His intercourse with the inhabi- tants of, 273. Visit of Molina to, 275 ; of Pedro de Candia, 277. Temple at, 278. Gardens and con- vents of, 289. Luque appointed bishop of, 306. The Spaniards take possession of, 354. Deserted and dismantled by its inhabitants, 354. Pizarro leaves a force at, 356. Gasca arrives at, u. 381. Tumults in Peru occasioned by the royal ordinances, u. 256. U. Umu, Villac, high-priest of Peru, n. 36. Urges the rising of the Peruvians, 42. Urcos, Almagro's army at, n. 90. V. Vaca de Castro, u. 144. Embarks for Peru, 145. Arrives at Buena Ventura, 202. and boldness Quito and assumes the govern- Difficult position of, 203. Goes to ment, 204. Marches south, 216. Takes command of the army, 217. Reconciles his generals, 218. Arrives at Lima, 219. His army, 220. Declines Gonzalo Pizarro's assistance, 221. Nego- tiates with Almagro, 222. Ad- vances to Chupas, 224. Addresses his troops, 226. Battle of Chupas, 229. Decides the action, 233. His severity towards the vanquished, 236. His mode of life at Cuzco, 237. Puts to death Almagro, 238. His treatment of Gonzalo Pizarro, 240. His judicious proceedings, 242. His efforts to quiet discon- tent with the ordinances, 257. Letters of the emperor to him, 260. Prevents an insurrection at Lima, 263. His reception of Blas- co Nunez, 267. Suspected and put in confinement by him, 275. Returns to Spain, 291. His sub- sequent fate, 291, 292. Valdivia, Pedro de, u. 114. Brav- ery of, at Las Salinas, 115. Letter of Gonzalo Pizarro to, 360, note. Joins Gasca, 402. His self-glorifi- cation, 404, note. At the passes of the Apurimac, 407. His letter to the emperor, 414, note. Killed by the Araucans, 447. Valencia, Gasca at, n. 338. Valverde, Pizarro's chaplain, i. 415. His interview with Atahuallpa, 416, 418, note. His efforts to con- vert Challcuchhna, 514. Performs mass at the coronation of Manco, ii. 4. Made bishop of Cuzco, 7. His letter to the emperor, 54, note Intercedes for Almagro, 127, note. Interposes in behalf of Picado, 206. His death, 207. His fanat- ical character, 208. His efforts in behalf of the Indians, 252, note. Vargas, Fray Juan de, i. 319. Vargas, Sanchez de, opposes Orella- na's voyage, n. 166. INDEX. 547 Vases of silver in the temple of the Moon, i. 98, note. Vattel on the trial of Atahuallpa, I. 484, note. Venus, Peruvian worship of, i. 92. Viceroys of the provinces of the Pe- ruvian empire, i. 42. Vicunas, habits of, I. 147. Viracocha, a Peruvian deity, i. 91. Meaning of the word, 91, note. Virgins of the Sun, i. Ill, note. Houses of, 102, 279, 393, n. 7. Chastity of, 7, note. Outrages upon, 40, 41, note, 247, W. War, Peruvian method of conduct- ing, i. 73, 75. Religious charac- ter of, among the Peruvians, $5. Weights used by the Peruvians, 1. 155. Wheat first introduced into Peru, i. 142, note. Wives of the Peruvian monarchs, i. 19, 35, note. Wool, the distribution and manufac- ture of, 1.52. Of llamas, 144. Of huanacos and vicunas, 147. How obtained and used by the Pe- ruvians, 149. X. Xaquixaguana, valley of, Francis Pizarro halts at, i. 513. Challcu- chima burnt at, 515. Selected as a battle-ground by Gonzalo Pizar- ro, ii. 415. Arrival of Gasca's army at, 418. Rout of, 425. Xauxa, i. 452. The Spaniards arrive at, 503, 505. They leave treasure at, 512. Letter of municipality of, 517, note. Battles with Quiz- quiz at, ii. 10. Great Indian hunt at, 20. Besieged by the Peruvians, 60. Pizarro at, 103. Vaca de Castro musters forces at, 219 Gasca's quarters at, 382, 399. He leaves, 404. Xerez, mistake of, as to the Inca's name, i. 371, note. Error in Ter- naux's translation of, 445, note. Y. Year, how divided by the Peruvi- ans, i. 126. Yucay, valley of, a favorite residence of the Incas, i. 30. Battles with the Peruvians at, ii. 46, 91. Yupanqui, meaning of the term, i. 9, note. Conquests by Topa Inca, 14. His maxim, 116. Z. Zaran, i. 368. Zarate, vigor and spirit of, ii. 230, note. Royal comptroller to the Audience, 290, note. Critical no- tice of, 471. 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